A Mirror To The Moon
by enigma77
Summary: Bella Swan, a teenage mother of a two year old, was shunned by her father when she had her baby. When she meets Edward Cullen, a beloved author, her world gets turned upside down, her life forever changed.
1. Strip My Mind

**A/N: Okay, people. This is my first real Twilight fic. It's one of the only things I've written with a plan in mind of where I'm gonna go with it. This is also the longest thing that has ever been written by me. I've always wanted to write Twilight fics after reading my first one so here is the beginning of this adventure. If you read it, I'll be happy. Review it and I'll be a little more happier. Now, if you enjoy it, well, then, you've made my day. :)**

**Disclaimer: Twilight belongs only to the very lucky, Stephenie Meyer.**

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****A Mirror To The Moon**

"Mommy! Mommy, come here!"

I sighed as I heard my daughter calling for me. I could never get anything done with a two-year old running around. "I'm coming, Lily!" I walked away from my computer. Trying to write a send an email is impossible with Lily's screaming. I was never able to finish it.

Walking into the living room of my apartment, I saw Lily sitting on the couch, staring intently at the floor.

Puzzled, I asked, "What's wrong, sweetie?"

She looked up at me with her innocent brown eyes. She pointed at the floor. "There's a spider."

When she said the word "spider," my eyes widened. I did not do well with spiders. "Um…honey, give me your shoe."

She pouted. "But, Mommy, I don't want spider guts on my shoes."

"Lily, just give me your shoe." She reluctantly complied and handed her tiny shoe over to me. Getting down on my knees, I looked at the gigantic spider and aimed. To my surprise, I drove the shoe into the carpet and killed the creepy creature on the spot.

Clapping her hands, Lily cheered, "Yay, Mommy! Woo! Yay! You did it!" She jumped off the couch and wrapped her arms around my legs. "You're my hero, Mommy."

This is what makes little toddlers great. They think the tiniest thing is the most amazing event ever. I squatted down to be at her level and hugged her close to me. "Lil, it's just a spider."

"Yeah, but, Mommy, it was scaring me. You made it be dead." She smiled up at me. "I love you."

I knew she said this any time I helped her with something, whether it be tying her shoes or, in this case, killing a spider, but no matter how many times she told me she loved me, I never got used to it. "I love you too, Lily."

Soon her bedtime arrived, and I took her into her small bedroom. I tucked her in and said good night. When she said the same to me, I kissed her forehead and walked out of her room. I went into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of chips from the counter. I thought through that evening's event. _It was a little spider_, I thought to myself. _I didn't save her from drowning._ Yet she called me her hero.

Never in my life had I thought I was a good mother. I was essentially just a child myself. At eighteen, this was definitely not where I thought my life would end up. So for Lillian to say that I was her hero, I was shocked. I could barely provide for us. I was working at a stupid office as a lowly receptionist at some local talent agency. I didn't know, or like, the people that worked there. I just knew that I needed the money. As long as it wasn't demeaning me, I would do whatever I had to do to make ends meet for us.

I decided that I needed to go to bed, but before doing so, I quietly went into Lily's bedroom. She looked her most peaceful when she was asleep; I hoped not to disturb her.

After looking at my daughter's sleeping form for a couple minutes, I hurried into my own room. I crawled into my bed and had a hard time falling asleep. I felt around for my junky MP3 player. It was sitting on my nightstand, and I picked it up, put the ear buds in my ears, and selected a song. I scanned through and found the perfect song, "Dosed" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I quickly fell asleep, the beautiful music in my head.

**x-X-x**

The next morning, I awoke to Lily jumping up and down on my bed. How fun.

"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy," she said while bouncing. "Are we gonna play today? You promised we'd play today."

I internally scolded myself. I had completely forgotten to take the day off from work. Now that she was reminding me, it was all coming back to me. The week earlier, I had told Lily that I would try and get off work so I could stay with her. It went entirely over my head. My boss would not let me off on this late of a notice.

"Aw, honey, I'm sorry," I comforted. "I can't do it today. I'll try tomorrow." I had a feeling the boss wasn't going to let me off the next day either, but I wouldn't tell Lily that. "I'm sure Aunt Alice would love to play with you today, though."

The bed jumping stopped. "Aunt Alice?" she asked. "I love playing with Aunt Alice. She always buys me things! You can go work if Alice comes over, 'kay?"

Lily's excitement was almost contagious. "Okay, sweetie. Let me just call her and see if she's not busy." I grabbed the phone and dialed the one number that I practically had memorized. It was my best friend since kindergarten, Alice Brandon.

Alice, unlike most girls our age, didn't go to college. She wasn't ready for anything so serious yet. She was ridiculously smart so she could get in wherever she wanted to. She just had no intentions on going to a university. She was my go-to girl. Whenever I needed her, for whatever reason, she was there, helping me as much as she could.

After about the third ring, Alice picked up. "Hello," she said in her always-chipper voice. No matter what time of day it was, Alice was always her bubble self.

"Alice, I know I ask you this, like, everyday, but I really need you to—"

She cut me off. "Say no more, Bella. You know I always have time to spend the day with the greatest goddaughter in the world." She giggled. "You should know by now that I'll say yes. When do you need me over?"

"I don't know. Just as fast as you can," I replied, knowing that it would only be five minutes until she got here. Alice liked to drive really fast.

"All right, Bell. See ya in a few."

She hung up and I figured I may as well get started on breakfast. Lily was in a Jell-O phase so all she wanted to eat had been Jell-O for the past three days. I, on the other hand, needed my bacon in the morning to get me through the day.

As I was standing in front of the stove, I heard a knock at the door. Lily, with her cup of gelatin in hand, ran to answer it. "Got it!" she called as she did so.

I heard the door swing open, and Lily screamed, "Aunt Alice is here! Mommy, come say hi to Aunt Alice!"

"I'll be there in a second. I don't want to burn food."

"Well, hurry up!" Lil was the most impatient child in the world.

I made sure my bacon was okay on its own and walked into the living room where Alice and Lily were now at.

"Alice, you know you never have to knock. My house is your house." I sighed. "Thank you so much for doing this. I owe you big time."

Alice just shook her head. "You know you can call me whenever. What are best friends for?" She grinned at me before pulling me into a hug. Alice might have been small, but weak she was not. I always was getting the air sucked out of me whenever she hugged me.

She let me out of her vice grip and then said, "What are we having for breakfast?"

"Well, I was gonna have some bacon, but what you want is up to you."

"I think I'll have some of that bacon. Ooh, and could you throw in a scrambled egg, too?" With that, her attention was back on Lily, and I went back into the kitchen.

Finishing up on the cooking, I called Alice into the room. I set a place at the table for her. Alice was at my house so much, she had her own seat at the table. She was pretty much the only family I had. She was my closest friend and was welcome at any time.

She sat down and dug into her food. Lily was eating another thing of Jell-O, and I was ready to chow down on some bacon.

"Hey, Lil," Alice said. "Why don't you go in your room and play for a little while? Your mom and I need to talk."

"'Kay, Alice." Lily wandered down the hall and into her bedroom. She shut the door and all I could think of was that she was probably putting Jell-O in her Barbie dolls' hair.

Alice turned to me. "Bella, have you talked to your dad lately?"

My face turned pale. I rarely had spoken to my father since I first told him I was pregnant. We had an occasional conversation, but it never amounted to anything. He claimed to always be busy being the chief of police in Forks, but I knew the truth. Chief Swan pretty much disowned me when I had Lily.

"No, I haven't talked to Charlie." Alice had a thing where she had to ask me this about once a month. Apparently, today had been that day.

"Bella," she sighed. "You guys are gonna have to talk about this sometime."

I let out a sigh, also, knowing that she was right. In all honesty, though I knew I needed to talk to Charlie, who I really needed to talk to was James, Lily's father. He was just a random boyfriend I had, and then when Lily came along, it was "Bye-bye, boyfriend, hello, motherhood." He never wanted to get to know her and he left town soon after, never to be heard from again.

"I know, Alice. But I don't even think he wants to talk to me." My dad and I only lived a few minutes away from each other in Forks, Washington. It wasn't like he lived hundreds of miles away like my mom did in Florida. "He doesn't make much of an effort to communicate with me."

Alice opened her mouth to say something, but we heard little footsteps coming down the hall.

Lily came into the kitchen, tears streaming down her face. "Mommy," she said between sniffles. "Look what happened to the doll Grandma got me for Christmas." Snot was running from Lily's nose and Alice got a tissue and wiped it off. One thing I knew for sure about Alice is that if she had kids, she would be the best mom ever.

My suspicions from earlier were confirmed when I saw a red, slimy substance in Lily's doll's hair. She had managed to get the Jell-O all in it.

I took the Barbie from her hands and said, "I'll try and wash this out later, okay, sweetie?" I set the doll on the counter. "Right now, I gotta get ready for work." I was making an excuse. I didn't have to be at work for a while; I just didn't want to continue my previous conversation with Alice. I didn't need her to give me another lecture about how I really needed to try to communicate with my dad.

I went into the bathroom, more to hide from my best friend than to look my best for my mundane job. With shaky hands, I put my make-up on. I was nervous. What if Lily had heard Alice and I talking? She could've heard anything. She rarely heard from her grandfather. She never heard from her father. I couldn't make the first move with these guys; Lily, or even I, would get hurt.

I changed into a stupid business suit. I hated wearing it, but I had to be dressed appropriately so the so-called "talent" knew that our agency would be respectable. The people the agency represented weren't big time, and in all honesty, I usually didn't think a lot of them ever could be.

When I came out of my room, I saw Alice getting the Jell-O out of Lily's doll's hair. _Why does she have to be the perfect one? _I thought to myself. _Why can't she let me do my mom duties?_

"Hey," she said, smiling brightly. "I figured I'd do this for you. You probably won't have the time to later."

I knew she was acting out of kindness, but sometimes, I thought she did it just to prove to me that she could be a better mother than me. I returned her smile, trying to get rid of that last thought. "Thanks, Ali."

"Remember," she threatened, pointing the doll at me. "You don't owe me anything. I'm doing this for you."

"'Kay," I said, resigned. She knew that if I could, I'd try to repay her.

"Mommy! Mommy, do you gots to go to work now?" Lily questioned. I found it so adorable when her grammar was off but it bugged Alice to no end.

"Lil, it's 'got to go.' Not 'gots.' All right?" Alice could be such a stickler for bad grammar.

Lily wasn't affected by Alice. "Mommy, you never answered my question," she whined.

I grabbed a bottle of water. "Yeah, sweetie. I gotta go in a minute." I scanned the counter for my truck keys. They weren't where they usually were. "Alice? Do you know where my keys are?"

Rolling her eyes, Alice looked over at Lily. "Did you take your mom's keys, Lil?"

Lily giggled and shook her head. "Nope, wasn't me." A guilty smile came upon her face. "It must've been someone else, Alice. I think you took them. You would be able to find a good hiding place."

"Lil, I know you took them. You're an open book," I said. She shook her head vehemently. "Listen, Lil, if you don't give me the keys now, I'm gonna be late. If I'm late, I lose my job. If I lose my job, then there's no more Jell-O."

Lily's mouth was wide open in horror. "No Jell-O?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"That's right, Lil. So you better hand over the keys in the next, say, ten seconds, or your supply of Jell-O will come to an end."

"I put 'em in my room!" she shouted. "They're in my room. I'll go get 'em." She ran down the hallway, into her room. Soon, footsteps were heard, and Lily emerged with the keys. "Here," she said. "I gots 'em right here." She waved the keys in my face. "See 'em? I had 'em, Mommy."

I took the keys from her. "Don't you ever do that again," I scolded. "I need my keys at all times, 'kay?"

She nodded with a sad look on her face. "'Kay."

I looked at Alice, who was watching the whole episode in silence. "I'm gonna go to work now."

She quietly said good-bye and so did Lily. I bent down and hugged my daughter close to me. "I'm sorry for getting so mad at you." She only nods but then, she kissed my cheek.

"I love you, Mommy."

"Love you, too, Lil." I grabbed my purse and walked out the door.

I found my truck in its regular parking space. It was an old, red Chevy truck that I bought. It was all that I could afford. Alice just hated it. She came from a fairly rich family so she got everything that she wanted. She had an expensive car—a Porsche—and designer clothes. She always said that she would ask her father to allow her to borrow some money to buy me a new car. I always refused; I didn't want her spending money on me for something that I didn't really need. There was one good thing about this piece of junk: no one would want to steal it.

I opened my door and got into the truck. I turned on the radio, trying to find something good to listen to. I found nothing good until I heard The Foo Fighters. The song that was playing was "Everlong." It was one of their first songs, and I've loved it since the very first time that I heard it. I began singing it to myself in the privacy of my truck. The whole drive, all that I heard, even when the song was over, was Dave Grohl's vocals.

When I arrived at the parking lot in front of my workplace, I was humming the song. Getting out of the car, Everlong was still stuck in my head. I wasn't paying attention, and I dropped my keys as I took them out of the ignition.

I reached down to pick them up, only to realize that someone else had already beat me to it. When I looked up, I saw a man, probably in his mid-twenties. He was holding my keys with a smile plastered on his face.

"I believe you dropped this, miss," he said politely.

It took me a little while to respond. His green eyes were so captivating. I was lost it them. Never had I seen someone with such piercing eyes. His bronze hair was in a casual disarray. I wasn't going to deny it; he was beautiful.

I realized that he was awaiting a response. "Um…Yeah, I did," I stammered.

He dropped them into my outreached hand. "Well, here you go." He looked at me briefly. "I'm Edward Cullen, by the way." He held out his hand for me to shake it.

"Bella Swan," I responded, shaking his hand. The moment we touched, I felt something like an electric shock go through my body. I looked up at him, and it seemed like he had noticed it, too.

He had a startled look on his face as he let go of my hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Bella," he said, still charming even after what had just happened.

"You, too, Edward," I replied, trying to sound calm, the complete opposite to what I felt.

"Hey, do you work here?" he asked when I was about to walk past him.

"Uh, yeah. Yes, I do." I still hadn't gotten over the electric shock.

He looked towards the doors of the building. "I'm gonna be heading in there. Would you like me to escort you?"

The way he said it, made me giggle. "Yeah, sure."

When he offered to carry my purse, I gave it to him. I heard him chuckle. "What?" I asked, irritated.

Still chuckling, he said, "When you got out of your car, were you humming 'Everlong'?"

I could feel my face getting hot; it was definitely fire engine red. However, I knew I couldn't let him know just how embarrassed I was. "Yes, I was," I said confidently.

"That's what I thought," he said with a chortle.

Annoyed, I asked, "Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, no reason. I just love the Foo Fighters." As we walked, I heard him softly singing the song. "Hello, I've been waiting here for you, everlong."

"Shut up, Edward," I muttered. He was mocking me, and I didn't like it one bit.

"Okay. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." We were standing in front of the doors. He opened them for me and let me step inside. "After you, madam," he said, bowing. He looked like an idiot. He was adorable, but still an idiot.

"Thank you," I said, trying to be not only grateful, but also graceful. Unfortunately, I failed. Miserably. Right after the words left my mouth, I tripped on the carpet inside the building. Though I was expecting an inevitable crash, it never came. Instead, I felt a pair of arms wrap around me before I hit the ground. I heard Edward let out a slight gasp.

When my eyes settled on his green ones, I said breathlessly, "Thank you."

Never taking his eyes off of mine, he grinned crookedly and replied, "You're welcome." Realizing that he was still holding me, he made sure I was able to stand straight and let go of me.

As he handed me my purse, I said, "I'm sorry. That kinda happens a lot to me. I'm always falling and everything. I'm so clumsy, it's not even funny." I giggled. "Okay, actually, it is pretty funny."

He laughed with me. "Yeah, it sort of is."

There was some weird energy between us, an amazing vibe. I had never experienced this with a guy the first time I met them. Not even with James. I didn't want it to end.

Before I knew it, we were standing in front of my desk. "Okay… this is my little work place." I put my stuff on the desk, and Edward handed me my bag. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Edward."

"Oh, no. The pleasure is all mine." He extended his hand and I shook it. "I'll see you around, I guess."

"Uh-huh. See ya," I replied.

I expected him to leave and go do whatever it was that he was supposed to, but he didn't. Instead, he shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Um… Bella, I might be being a little forward, but I was wondering." He bit his lip and looked up at me. "Maybe you'd like to go to dinner with me sometime?"

My jaw definitely dropped at that moment. "Oh. Edward, I, uh, don't really know."

"Oh, yeah. That's totally fine." He seemed embarrassed. "I mean, I don't really know what I was thinking. Actually, I don't think I was thinking at all. You probably have a boyfriend or something, of course."

He was babbling and I really wanted him to stop. "Edward, it's not what you're thinking. You're completely wrong. I—I just can't."

Edward looked very confused. "Why, then? If you're single, then…"

I held up my hand to stop him. "I'm not discussing this now. I need to get to work."

Closing his eyes for a second, Edward said softly, "Okay, I'm sorry I bothered you."

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." I sat down in my chair and once again, waited for him to leave. He turned away from me and took a seat in the waiting room. He seemed like he wasn't planning on leaving any time soon. I was afraid that he was some creepy stalker guy. "Excuse me, Edward? Do you have, like, an appointment?"

He lifted his head to look at me. "I do, as a matter of fact." He pulled a piece of paper out of his pant pocket. "I have a meeting with a person named Mike Newton."

"Ah, I see." I hated Mike, our lead agent. He had been coming on to me since I got this job. "What do you need to see Mike for?"

"You don't know?" Edward asked, slightly arrogant. When I shook my head, he said, "Bella, I'm an author. I need a good agent."

I blinked a few times, trying to regain my composure. "What—what are you talking about?"

"I'm an author, Bella. I thought you knew that." To my surprise, Edward was shocked by the fact that I had no clue what he was talking about. "I wrote a pretty big bestseller. It was called 'Starlight.' I'm not trying to brag or anything, but it's a kind of a huge hit."

I shrugged. "Never heard of it. Oh, and you _are_ sounding pretty boastful," I pointed out. He looked at me like I was crazy, but I was telling the truth; I didn't know the book even existed.

"Wow. Every girl I have ever met has heard of my book. It's sort of annoying."

"Still sounding kinda cocky." I thought long and hard. "No. I'm pretty sure that you're book and I have never crossed paths. Oh, well." I went to sit back at my desk.

"Wait. Wait. You're serious?" Edward ran his hands through his hair. "Wow. That's…That's, uh, refreshing."

"Yeah. I'm sure it is." I picked up my pencil and wrote _Edward Cullen: Starlight _to remember to look up the book. "So, what's this book about then?"

He flashed me a crooked grin. "Vampires."

"Hmm…Vampires. Sounds very interesting. What happens?"

Still beaming, he said, "Now, that, Miss Swan, is something you'll have to figure out on your own. I refuse to give away anything."

"Come on." I batted my eyelashes, which was probably a lot less seductive than I thought it was. "Please?"

He rapidly shook his head. "Uh-uh. Not doing it. I won't give in to your wily ways, Bella. It won't work."

I grinned back at him. "Dang it. I thought it was really gonna work. Guess I'm gonna have to work on that, huh?"

Once again, he shook his head, though slower this time. "No. No, you don't need to practice. If I was just a tiny bit weaker, it would have definitely worked. And I must admit, I'm pretty strong. So anyone would have given in. Definitely."

I could only laugh at his statement. "Well, in that case, I'm honored." This whole situation was odd. Why was some big time author flirting with me? I looked at my watch and realized that I better start working or I would get fired. I turned away from him and started looking through my list of things that needed to be done. "Edward, when did you say you had a meeting with Mike?"

He seemed to be deep in thought when I asked him this question so he didn't answer. I looked through the appointments' list on the computer. I scrolled down and saw his name along with the time: a quarter after nine o'clock. I looked at the computer's clock and saw that it would be about another twenty minutes before his meeting.

Edward sat on a chair in the waiting area and fiddled with a magazine. It appeared that he wasn't the type of person who would like going to book signings but maybe that was just my imagination.

In a matter of minutes, people were flooding the waiting area. They were around my desk, asking about their appointments. The large crowd was barely contained in the seats. One more person and someone would have to stand the whole time.

When the time for Edward's meeting came, one of the workers in the back, Victoria, came out front. "Bella," she said in her soprano voice. "You can send Mr. Cullen back now." She disappeared behind the door.

I did as I was told and got Edward. As he went to open the door, he looked at me and said, "Wish me good luck in there."

Not really knowing what he meant, I said, "Good luck," and sat back down in my chair.

Time flew by and many other people had been sent back for their meetings with our other agents. There was no sign of Edward. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, he came out, Victoria right behind him.

"Mr. Cullen, we are looking forward to working with you. Newton's Talents will be able to cater to your needs perfectly." There was a double meaning to her words.

Edward wasn't paying her any attention. He was staring directly at me. Once Victoria noticed this, she ushered him away. I didn't see him after that. She had sent him out the door. The day went on, as boring as can be.

**x-X-x**

I arrived at my apartment that evening to see that Lily had completely worn Alice out. The latter was lying on my couch with Lily sitting on the floor, eating her Jell-O.

I suppressed my laughter as I took in the scene before me. I walked closer to the two and Lil spotted me.

"Mommy!" she screeched, waking Alice up. She stared at me and I stared right back.

"What happened to you?" I asked.

"That kid can play hard," she said, exhausted. "I have never been so tired in my entire life."

"Poor Alice," I said, trying to be sympathetic. Another question was knocking at the surface. "Hey, have you ever heard of the book, 'Starlight'?"

"By Edward Cullen? Of course I've heard of it! Bells, I own it." Her face took on a puzzled look. "Why do you want to know?"

"I'll tell you later," I answered. Lily was walking over, Jell-O still in hand. She stared at me with her big, brown eyes.

"I missed you, Mommy," she said and gave me a hug. "But me and Aunt Alice had tons of fun. We played with dolls and watched a lot of T.V. She even let me jump on the couch and bed. And I told her, 'But Mommy doesn't let me do that.' And she just said that whatever you didn't know wouldn't hurt you."

Through gritted teeth, Alice said, "Which is why you weren't supposed to tell her, Lil."

In mock anger, I looked at Alice. "How could you disobey me? I thought we were best friends and then you go and do something like this. How could you?"

Lily didn't comprehend that I was joking. "Mommy, it wasn't her fault. She just wanted to have fun."

"Yeah, Bella," Alice said, playing along. "You know what Cyndi Lauper says. 'Girls just wanna have fun'."

"I love how some '80's singer becomes the voice of reason," I teased. Now, I had to ease Lil's worries of me being mad at Alice. "And Lily, I was only kidding. I can never get angry at Alice."

Lily, then, left the room with a smile on her face. Alice, who was sitting on the couch, patted the seat next to her. "Talk. Why are you curious about Cullen?"

"Well… I kind of met him today."

Alice squealed so loud I had to cover my ears. "What!?"

"Jeez, Alice. Calm down." I paused for a moment. "I met him today at work. He had an appointment." I deliberately did not mention the strange flirting that happened.

"Oh, my God! Bella, do you know, he's, like, my favorite author. His book is so good," Alice gushed. "Not to mention, he's beyond hot."

Of course, I had noticed this already. I just shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

"Bella, he's gorgeous. You are allowed to admit this." She couldn't contain her giggles. "I can't believe you met him. Was he nice? What was he like?"

Not wanting to give too much away, I said, "Eh, he's okay."

"That's it?" Alice said, not satisfied. "He's okay? Was he nice to you or not?" Before I could answer, she said something else. "All right, whatever. He's beautiful. That's good enough for me." She sighed, completely content. "Hold on. You had never heard of his book, right? Well, you need to read it. I'm gonna go get it. It's in my bag. I'll be right back."

I was going to tell her not to bother, but she was already gone. When she came back, her gigantic handbag was on her shoulder. She was rummaging through it as she took her seat next to me.

"It's in here somewhere," she muttered. A wallet, and iPod, and a cell phone were thrown on the floor as she looked in her bag. "A-ha! Found it." She pulled the book out and handed it to me. "Here you go."

I looked at the book. The cover showed a shot glass full of a red liquid. Blood. This was about vampires, after all. There was a sticker on it: _Soon to be a major motion picture._

Alice noticed what I was looking at. "Yeah, a movie's coming out in a few months. But the movie's not gonna be half as good as the book. That's what always happens."

"Are you going to see it?" I asked. She seemed dead set against it.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I gotta show my support for the books."

"Is there more than one?" I questioned. I had noticed that she said books as in more than one.

"Uh-huh. There are three of them. He's going to be coming out with another one in the next couple months, I think. Sometime before the movie comes out." She stared at me with a very excited look on her face. "Hey, maybe you could come see the movie with me? I was planning on going with Rosalie, but she's been acting weird lately."

I tried not to groan. Rosalie Hale. She had never really liked me. I made an attempt to be nice to her, but she just never cooperated. She couldn't deal with the fact that Alice always liked me more. "Maybe," I said, answering Alice's question. "What's wrong with Rosalie?"

"She just started dating this guy, Emmett. She's completely obsessed with him," she complained. "It's getting pretty annoying. It's all 'Emmett this' and 'Emmett that'."

Alice was resentful. She didn't have a boyfriend, but she was hopelessly in love with Jasper, Rosalie's older brother. She didn't think he returned the same feelings though.

"Tell me the date, and I'll clear my plans to go see the movie with you, Ali." I didn't want her to go to a movie with someone she wasn't getting along with. Moreover, I didn't want her to be stuck in the theater, surrounded by people she didn't know.

"Oh! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said. She hugged me tightly. "All you have to do is finish the book and then it'll be perfect. I think it's weird to go see the movie if you haven't read the book." She looked over at the digital clock on the T.V. stand. "I got to go now, Bella. Where's Lily? I need to tell her good-night."

Lil must have heard her because she came running out right after Alice finished her sentence. "Alice! Why can't you stay?"

"'Cause I need to go home. My parents might worry if I'm not home soon. Don't worry; I'll see you tomorrow."

"'Kay," Lily said. "See you soon."

After saying her good-byes, Alice picked up her bag and coat and walked out the door.

Lily and I had some mother and daughter time, but all she did was talk about what Alice had let her do while I was at work.

Her bedtime came and I had a night to myself. A night of peace and quiet. I went into my bedroom and looked at the book that Alice had given me. It sounded intriguing. I wasn't usually into all of the vampire stuff but I figured I'd give Edward's book a shot.

I opened it up and let the words sink into my head. The story sucked me in from the first page. So interesting. The danger, the love. It was captivating. I couldn't sleep. When I tried to all I could think about was what was going on in the lives of the main characters, Amelia and Anthony. A mere mortal girl deeply in love with a vampire.

I didn't go to bed that night. I read the whole way through the book.

* * *

**So what did you think of the first chapter? You're probably sitting there, wondering, "What in the world has this girl just done? She has completely butchered everything about Twilight." Well, if I did, that was not my intention, but you can tell me if that's what you think. Or if you, by some miracle, actually liked this, I would appreciate it if you told me that, also. So thanks for reading! If someone likes it, there may be more to come. :)**


	2. Hard To Concentrate

**A/N: I'm really sorry to those of you who have this on alert and such. I know I always hate it when people don't update for what seems like forever so I won't blame you if you're mad. I do want you all to know that every review, favorite, and alert that I got, I cherished it. Your kind words brightened my day. So after a long wait, I would like to present to you... "A Mirror To The Moon: Chapter 2!" Read, review, enjoy (hopefully)! :)**

Never had a book become so captivating to me. I always hated books when I went to school. The next morning, I gushed over the greatness of the novel to Alice when she came over.

"I'll let you borrow the other ones if you want," she offered.

Ecstatic, I replied, "Really? That would be great! I'll take them as soon as possible. I'm seriously dying to read them."

"I'm so glad that you liked it. Don't you just love all of the characters?"

"Yeah, I felt like I've known them my whole life. It's strange." It was true; I didn't really understand how I loved these characters, vampires and humans, so passionately already.

"And you even met the author. I'm so jealous," Alice squealed.

Her excitement bothered me. "Ali, you know I only met him for, like, a second. It's not that big of a deal.

Just then, Lily came running in. She always has perfect timing. "Mommy, Aunt Alice! What are we gonna do today?"

Alice and I looked at each other. "Um…I don't know," I answered. "What do you want to do? Anything you want."

Giving an innocent smile, she said, "Aunt Alice had a good plan. She wanted to go shopping."

I looked at my best friend who had a guilty expression on her face. "She was asking me for ideas, and, you know me, I have one specific thing in mind at all times, so I said shopping. I mean, what would you do?"

"I would think of something faintly realistic," I nearly shouted. Alice knew I had a budget and shopping for things that were not needed was out of the question.

"Shh," she said, pulling me aside. Once Lily was out of earshot, she said, "Bella, I'm paying. Don't worry about it. You're making a bigger deal out of this than what it is."

"Alice, I am not letting you pay for anything," I lectured. "It's out of the question."

"Aw, Bells," she whined. "Come on. At least let us window shop. That's better than nothing."

I looked at her in disgust for once again trying to prove that she would be a better parent than me. After taking a deep breath, I was becoming a little calmer. "Fine. But you're not getting anything." I felt like I was talking to a small child. "If you even consider buying anything, especially for yourself, you'll be a dead girl."

Alice showed no fear. "You wouldn't dare." She laughed. "Besides, this pixie can not be killed, no matter how hard you try." She basically danced back over to Lily. "Okay, sweetie, we're not going to seriously buy anything, but we will look at all kinds of goodies."

Lil nodded. "That's just as good," the eager toddler said. Nothing could deter her good mood.

"Okay," I said, still a little uncertain. "I've got to go get ready and then, we'll be going, I guess." With a tiny wave, I left for my bedroom to change my clothes. I grabbed a pair of skinny jeans and put on my Linkin Park t-shirt that I had gotten at a concert of theirs when I was fifteen. A pair of sneakers sat beside my bed so I slipped them on my feet and picked up my purse.

When I returned to the living room where my two favorite girls were, Alice looked at me in awe. "I haven't seen you wear that shirt in forever. I can't believe it's in so good of shape."

"Well, you said it. I haven't worn it in a long time. The last time was when I was with…" I trailed off and she nodded. She knew that I was talking about James, who was not my favorite topic.

"Oh, right," she said, distracted. Being that Alice is the master at changing the subject, that's what she did. "Lily!" she shouted, turning to my daughter. "Ready for some shopping?"

Lily enthusiastically replied, "Uh-huh! Let's go!" She yanked on Alice's and my hands and pulled us out the door.

Upon walking outside the apartment building, Alice shook her head. "Bella, I hope you don't think that I'm riding in that thing you call an automobile."

"What's an automobile?" asked a very curious Lily.

"It's a car, sweetie," I answered. Turning my attention back to Alice, I had my own question. "What's wrong with my truck?"

"Oh, come on, Bella! The thing's a death trap! One of these days, when you're in it, something bad is going to happen. I'm worried for your safety and Lily's. Not to mention mine."

I rolled my eyes. "Ah, yes. I figured it would come around to you. It's always about you, isn't it? You could've stopped with how you're worried about me and my child, but you had to ruin the moment with your ego." I was only teasing, but Lily, being Lily, didn't get that.

"Don't talk that way to Aunt Alice," she scolded, on the defense. "She still said she care 'bout you."

Alice and I shared an incredulous look and busted out laughing. Alice was the first to contain herself. "Lil, don't worry. We're just joking. Everything's fine."

"Yeah, we were just messing around. We do that from time to time, you know." I was taken aback by my two year old's seriousness.

"Oh." Her face fell, then quickly brightened up. "Okay then."

"Let's go! Vamonos!" shouted Alice. She ran over to her car, the most excited I've ever seen her.

"Great. The Porsche. Lovely." My sarcasm was dripping.

Alice, hating the thought of her car being insulted, glared at me. "Don't be jealous, Bella and get in."

I got in, but not before putting Lily in her car seat in the back. Sitting in the passenger seat, I told Alice, "You better not go speeding. You'll kill us all. Plus, I grew up being scolded about traffic laws, right? I still remember all of those."

"Seriously, Bella? You're worried about my driving expertise?" Alice flipped her hair. "You got to be kidding me."

After we had a brief laugh over that, she started the car and we were soon on the road. Alice drove slowly for her, only speeding when she thought she would get caught at a red light.

For the most part, I paid no attention to what was going on during the ride. I had the radio on and was softly humming any song I heard that I liked. While I was singing "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison, Alice was screaming my name.

"Bella, we're here!" she shouted. "Earth to Bella!"

"Oh," I said, startled. I hadn't realized that the car had stopped.

"Well, come on, girly," Alice said. "Don't keep us waiting."

I stepped out of the car mutely while Alice got Lily out of her seat. We walked around and, to my surprise, they weren't as loud and boisterous as I expected.

We were in many stores and, if I really felt like it, I would be nice and buy something special for Lily, like a little necklace with a small, pink heart pendent. However, I refused to let Alice splurge on her or me. That was not allowed.

As we walked along, looking at many things, I spotted a flash of bronze. At first, I was unsure of what it was, but then I saw it again. It was someone's hair, and that someone was a person I had met the day earlier.

Edward was casually strolling towards us. On his right was a very pretty lady with strawberry blonde hair. I had no clue who this vision of beauty was, but I instantly knew that I was envious of her. After all, she was the one hanging onto Edward's arm.

Alice flipped out before I could tell her not to. "Oh, my God," she scream-whispered. "Is…is that Edward Cullen? I know it is."

I automatically shushed her. "Ali, seriously? Can you contain yourself, please? It's not that big of a deal." I shrugged, not letting her know just how big of a deal I thought it was.

Right when I looked up, not really knowing how I would respond to Edward being across from me, a quick glance showed that he had seen me.

Smiling, his walking pace sped up. His lady friend nearly had to jog to keep up with him.

Once he got to Alice, Lily, and I, his grin was even larger. "Hey, Bella. How are you?"

I was somewhat speechless so Alice interjected on my behalf. "She's fine. She's good. Um…You're Edward Cullen, aren't you?" she asked, losing her earlier nervousness for a more brazen attitude.

"Yes, I am. Are you a fan?" he questioned.

"Only like your biggest," she replied. "Oh, how rude of me! I'm Alice Brandon."

"Pleasure to meet a fan," Edward said, shaking my pixie friend's hand. A throat clearing was heard. He looked back at the blonde vixen he was with. "I'm sorry. This is Tanya, my cousin. Tanya, this is Alice, Bella, and…" He motioned to Lily.

"Lily Swan!" my daughter shouted. "Lillian Jamie Swan," she said in a more cordial manner.

"Oh," was Edward's response. "Bella, is this adorable girl your daughter?"

I was still acting as if I was a mute so when Edward addressed me personally, I was taken aback. "Uh, yeah," I said as nonchalantly as I could manage. "Yes, she is." I looked up at him to see if he was completely repulsed by the fact that I was a mother but only saw a tender smile on his face.

"You can tell," he said. "She looks just like you, very beautiful."

His compliment made me turn a thousand shades of red. "Thank y—you," I stammered out shyly.

Tanya sensed something strange was happening so she turned to Alice. "Hey, you wanna go look in Rue 21? They have great clothes there."

"OMG!" Alice screamed in a preppy way. "I love that store. Let's go!" She stood next to me and whispered in my ear, "I'm taking Lily. You and Edward can have a moment alone." She walked off with Lily and Tanya, who seemed like her new best friend.

Now, I was alone once again with Edward. I didn't know what to say so I gave him an awkward wave. "How are you?"

He laughed, evidently from my unease. "Good, good. Oh, hey, I wanted to tell you yesterday, I am now working with your agency."

I nodded. "Well, it's Mike's agency, but whatever. I'm happy for you." An uncomfortable silence followed.

Edward shifted nervously from side to side. "Can I ask you something?" he said a bit hesitantly.

I couldn't really say no to him so instead I said, "Yeah, sure."

The next words that came out of his mouth left me speechless. "Are you married or something?"

Words could not come, I was so flabbergasted. After what seemed like an eternity, I was able to form a sentence, sort of. "Um…What?"

"You said yesterday that you wouldn't go out with me. Was the complication the fact that you're married? I mean, you have a daughter."

That comment, for some reason, infuriated me. "Excuse me? Newsflash: Many women have kids and are not married. The idea of marriage makes me kind of sick and old."

To say the least, Edward was not expecting my little rant. "Whoa. I didn't mean it like that, Bella. I just… I don't know. I wasn't expecting you to have a child. How old are you anyway?"

"Edward! Hasn't anyone ever told you to never ask a woman what her age is? What's wrong with you?"

"Sorry!" he said instantly. "I was just curious."

"Too young," I answered softly.

I knew he heard me, but he didn't press that issue any further. "How old is your daughter?"

"Lily's two," I said, a smile immediately coming to my face. The subject of her was the only thing that I liked talking about.

"She seems like a sweet girl," Edward commented. "Alice seems very bubbly," he added, changing the subject.

I snorted. "Yeah, I wonder how I put up with her sometimes. Tanya seems nice," I said

"Uh-huh, she's cool. I never really hung out with my cousins much." He paused. "Well, until I published my first book." His tone suggested he wasn't happy about that, and I couldn't blame him.

"That must stink. It's like they're jumping on a bandwagon, kinda." I felt really bad for him now. I couldn't imagine having to deal with fame hungry family members.

His demeanor changed for he now acted as if he was content with the fact. "I just got used to it, I guess. It's not gonna change. As long as I'm in the public eye, my cousins are gonna hang around me." He shrugged. "I just deal with it."

"Yeah," was the only response I could muster. I didn't know what it was like when people hound others just for money and a higher status.

"Anyway," Edward once again changed the direction of our conversation. "Alice is a big fan of mine, huh? And yet you had never heard of my book?"

"I swear, she never said a word about it! She knows I'm not in the least bit worried about books so she tells her other friends. However…" I blushed. "I have since started reading your books."

"Really?" he wondered, intrigued. "And how far along are you?"

It was times like these when I wished that my skin was not so pale so my blush would not be so noticeable. "Um…I kinda read the whole first book after work yesterday."

My answer left him open mouthed. "Bella, you do know that the book is, like, four hundred pages, right?" When I nodded, he continued. "And you read all that in just a matter of hours?" I nodded again. "Wow. You must not have slept much."

Sheepishly, I replied to his last statement. "Not at all, actually."

Once again, he was astounded. "That's not healthy for you," he managed to say. He eventually composed himself enough to ask, "Did you like it?"

I eagerly bobbed my head up and down. "It was so good, Edward. Everyone in it felt so real to me."

While I spoke, Edward appeared very intrigued, as if I was his biggest critic and my opinion mattered the most. "That's what I try to do. It's kind of my job."

He laughed freely and I joined him. "It was seriously one of the best books I've ever read," I raved. "Beautifully written, beautiful characters, the works."

"Well, thank you," he said, pleased that I enjoyed it. He was done with this topic, however. Edward could be shifty when picking things to talk about. "So why didn't you want to go on a date with me?"

I rolled my eyes. "That's for me to know and you to find out," I said, being a total cliché. Then, I made the bold decision to tell him the truth. "Honestly? I didn't want you to know about Lily."

What he said next was not what I anticipated. "Seriously? Do you think I'd take it that badly? That I'd think the worst of you?"

"I—I didn't know what you'd think," I stuttered.

Silence overwhelmed us. No one dared to speak after such a topic was brought up.

"Nothing you would have told me could have possibly made me think of you as anything other than the beautiful girl I met yesterday."

I dared to look up at Edward after he had spoken. His face was solemn. "You mean that?" I questioned.

He sighed and ran his fingers through the bronze mess that was his hair. "Yeah, I do," he said. He looked at me in earnest and began talking again. "If I asked you out again, what would you say?"

I thought over it for a minute. I gazed at his face, which had a hopeful expression on it. At the same time, there was still a tiny tint of doubt on that face and I wanted to squash any not of that feeling. Looking straight into his emerald gems of eyes, I said, with utmost conviction, "I would tell you that I'd love to go on a date with you."

His face was now flooded with both relief and elation. He exhaled loudly. "Thank goodness for that 'cause I don't know what I would do if you said no."

I giggled. "Okay, that's settled. So where are we going, where are we going to meet, and at what day and time?"

"Lots and lots of questions. Slow down." He scratched his chin. "I don't know. Where do you want to go? I didn't seriously think you'd say yes."

I tapped my head. "Where to go, where to go?" I asked myself. "You know, I have no clue. I don't really go out so…"

"Right, what with Lily and everything," he said, understanding my situation. "Well, I'm sure we can come up with some place. As for the day we do this, I'm saying tomorrow night, eight o'clock."

"Hold on, Mr. I'm In Control Of All Things Planning," I only half teased. As far as I was concerned, he should not have been taking control of the whole situation. "I gotta think. There's nothing going on with Lil that evening so I believe it will do. So tomorrow at eight and I meet you at…"

"Oh, we're not meeting anywhere," said Edward confidently. "I'm picking you up."

"Huh? You don't even know where I live," I stated the obvious.

Edward merely scoffed at that. "Like that'll be hard to figure out. And even if you don't tell me, I'm sure Alice would be more than happy to help out." He winked at me.

"You wouldn't!" I feigned shock and offense, but I caved. "Don't worry; my place isn't that hard to find. It's the apartment complex that is literally just down the road from this dumb place."

"Oh, so you don't like malls either? Then what are you doing here?"

I grunted. "Alice dragged me here after promising Lily that we'd come without asking me for permission. I mean, what's her problem?"

Edward shook his had at my raging. "I don't know. I've only spoken to her for two minutes, tops, and I can tell that she would be that type of person. Strange."

"Mm-hmm. She's always been like that. So anyway, the room number is 18. You can find your own way. I'm not giving directions."

"Fair enough. I'm sure I can find it. And if I don't," he said, "know that it is because you were so inadequate in giving directions, not because I stood you up or anything."

"And my lack of directions is no judgment on your character," I replied. "Okay, maybe a little."

That got a laugh out of him until we heard footsteps approaching. Looking over my shoulder, I saw the three girls who had abandoned us earlier. They were each grinning from ear to ear. One of them in particular had an even larger smile. Lily was holding a small bag and I knew already what it was.

"Mommy, look what Aunt Alice bought me," shouted Lily, standing only a foot away. From the bag, she pulled out a petite Hello Kitty doll. "Isn't it pretty?" she admired.

I gave a stern look to Alice. "I thought we had an agreement."

Alice beamed at me. "Well, I always make exceptions to the rule, you know. And the doll really is cute. How could I say no to Lily?" Alice babbled on and on.

"Okay, whatever. I don't care anymore," I said, just wanting her to stop speaking.

Tanya was talking to Edward privately. Then, he said, "All right, well, we have to get going. It was nice meeting you, Alice and Lily. And Bella, I'll be looking forward to tomorrow." He smirked at me. With Tanya sneering at me, they both turned and walked in the other direction.

Once they were far, far away, Alice looked at me, curiosity etched on her face. "What was that about?"

I shrugged. "Nothing," I said, trying to make it seem casual. "It…Nothing."

"That," she said, pointing to where Edward and Tanya had vanished, "was not 'nothing.' You're going to tell me exactly what happened, and you're going to do it now."

"I will do no such thing," I said in mock outrage. Lily was still standing there and I didn't really want her to hear about everything. I whispered so only Alice could hear me. "I'll tell you when we get home."

"Fine," said Alice. "But we are leaving _right now._" She began to stroll towards the parking lot. "Oh, and Bella? I'm speeding and there's nothing you can do about it."

I grinned, not because I liked fast driving, of course, but because of her tone. On the way to the car, we were silent. When we got into the car, we were still not talking. I wondered if Alice was a little irate because I wouldn't tell her everything right away. The quietness was abnormal since Alice is the biggest chatterbox I know.

A short while later, we were sitting in my living room. I had told Lily to go to bed because, after such an exciting day, a good night's sleep is always needed. On the couch, Alice sipped her coffee while I drank a glass of water.

"So…" she said after not talking for a long time. "You going to tell me what happened back at the mall?"

I sighed, knowing for sure that she would not settle for a vague answer, and told her pretty much everything that went down. I ended with, "And we're going on a date tomorrow night so you're gonna have to baby-sit."

When I was finished, I saw Alice's eyes twinkling. "Oh, my gosh! You're going on a date with a famous person. And not just any famous person, but my favorite author. Oh, you have to take me along."

"On my date?" I asked, confused. When she nodded eagerly, I said, "No, Ali. You can't do that. One, that's weird. And two, you have to watch Lily."

"Ugh," she groaned. "Why don't I get dates with famous authors? I don't even get dates with Jasper. What did I ever do wrong?"

"Aw, Ali. Stop with the self-loathing. One day, Jasper is gonna wake up and realize just how in love with you he really is." I paused. "But you still can't come on my date with me."

Alice did the only thing she could do in a situation like this. She stuck her tongue out at me. "You're just a big meanie."

I laughed at how childish she sounded. "Yeah, but you still love me, don't you, Ali?"

She scrunched up her face and said in an irritated tone, "I guess so."

I wrapped my arms around her, giving her a hug. "That's right. And I love you, too. Even though you're an annoying pixie."

She punched my shoulder. "Shut up. Just be sure to give me all the details about your date with Edward and everything will be fine."

"You got it, Ali," I said in response. My mind was racing. I had a date with Edward Cullen.

Just then, Alice remembered something. "Ooh, Bells! I almost forgot." She hopped off of the couch and over to her large bag. She pulled out two large books and skipped back over to me. "Here are the other books in the series. That's 'Over the Moon' and 'Blinding Sun.' Of course, they're all amazing, but I think the first is the best. I just know you're going to love them. Same characters, strange twists, all sorts of love. It's all so beautiful. You need to finish them as fast as you can 'cause it won't be long 'til the movie comes out and we have to see it together…"

Alice kept talking but I paid no attention to her. I stared at the books and ran my fingers over the covers. One, "Over the Moon," had a vile of blood on it, while the other, "Blinding Sun," showed a piece of paper with bloody calligraphy.

"Oh! I have to get going, Bella," cried Alice. She clutched me tightly for a moment, then let go. "Love you, honey. I'll see you tomorrow," she said getting up. "Night!" Her coat was on and she was out the door.

I glanced at the books once more and smiled. "As much as I want to read you two," I spoke to the inanimate objects, "I really have to sleep tonight."

But I knew that, though I wasn't lying to myself, sleep wasn't going to happen. The only thing I could think about was what I was going to do with Edward tomorrow evening.

* * *

**Well, there you have it. Did you like it? I hope so but I'm afraid it didn't live up to some expectations. If you liked it, leave me a review that makes me cheer with glee. If you didn't, tell me what you think and I'll try to improve. Either way, thanks for reading! :)**


	3. Time In A Bottle

**A/N: Thanks to all who read, reviewed, subscribed, etc. It means the world to me that you guys like this so much. I've been working and brainstorming on this chapter for a while now so I hope you like it. It would have been up sooner if I hadn't been so frustrated over the weekend but whatever…Enjoy!**

When I awoke the next morning, I came to the realization that I still had to go to work. With a sigh, I heaved myself off the bed and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

Sitting in my chair at the table was Lily, already holding a plastic cup of Jell-O. I shook my head at the sight. "When is she gonna get over that dumb stuff?" I murmured so low she couldn't hear me. "Hey, honey," I said, louder now. "What are you doing up?"

With a strange giggle, Lily said, "Nothing. Just bored."

Letting her oddness slide for a while, I shrugged. "What do you want for breakfast, Lil? I'm having bacon, of course."

"Ooh, can I have scwambled eggs," she answered, incorrectly pronouncing the words.

"_Scrambled_," I said, enunciating the word. "It's an 'r' not a 'w.' And sure, you can have some. I might make one for myself while I'm at it." I pulled the egg carton out of the fridge, along with the package of bacon. While I was getting everything set out, Lily decided to throw her spoon at me. "Hey!" I screamed, whirling around to face her.

"Sorry," she said with that weird giggle again.

I scoffed. "Yeah, you're sorry, all right." I flung a washcloth at her. "Oops. Sorry," I said sarcastically.

She continued to laugh and I was about to walk over and pick her up, but the phone's shrill ring prevented me. I picked it up and said, "Hello?"

"Bells, it's Alice. I knew that you were going to call me so I figured I'd beat you to it and already tell you that I am available to watch Lil while you are at work." I could hear the grin in her voice. "No need to thank me." Abruptly, the line disconnected.

I stood there, staring at the phone. "What just happened?" I asked myself.

"Mommy, don't forget our breakfast," Lily said, coming to stand behind me. "I'm hungry!"

"Okay, okay. Calm down. Aunt Alice is being really…odd." I didn't know what other word could describe it. Alice is sometimes not as straightforward as I would like her to be, but she always gets to the point. She told me what she wanted to, but it was all very cryptic.

Lil was now seated on the couch, staring out the window. "Mommy, I see Aunt Ali's car pulling in! You better make her food, too!"

Not a minute later, Alice was bursting through the door. "Hello, my beloveds. How are you all? Good, I hope. 'Cause I'm doing fabulous." She skipped over to Lily and hugged her. "What's up, kid?"

Lily grinned. "We're getting ready for breakfast. You want some?"

"Of course I do. As long as Bella is cooking." She made the short walk over the where I was standing in front of the stove. "Bacon?" she asked.

I smirked at her. "What do you think? Why would I go a day without it? It's bacon."

"You are an idiot," Alice said, shaking her head. "Make me some, too, though. And you better make them good."

"Is that a threat, Alice?" I questioned.

Instead of answering my inquiry, Alice asked her own. "So…you ready for your date with Edward? You got your outfit picked out? 'Cause if you don't, I can totally help you out."

Thinking over her questions, I realized that I wasn't sure about either of them. "To be honest, I haven't given it much thought."

"What?" Alice couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I guess you do need my help."

I knew how she got when I gave her free reign. The last time that happened… I shuddered. I didn't want to think about it. "Alice…"

"No, no, Swan. You just leave this all to me. I will make you beautiful, Bella."

I sighed. "Fine, but I still don't trust you."

She winked and said, "No one said you had to."

**x-X-x**

The day went by rather quickly. For lack of a better word, I was anxious to see what Alice had in store for me. I knew there was going to be tons of make-up, a revealing dress, and all kinds of junk were going in my hair. I wasn't all that excited.

Work was not exactly a safe haven though. Mike was overly flirty again and Victoria was not very cordial. Every time she walked by my desk, she would shoot death glares at me. When the day came to an end, I was happy to be away from the extremely uncomfortable environment.

I hopped into my truck, thinking about what Alice's tactics would be and also my date. I still didn't know exactly where we were going or what we were doing. Everything was very hazy.

When I pulled into the parking lot of my apartment, I was wary. "What could Alice be up to?" I was talking to myself again, never a good sign.

On my guard, I opened the door and was amazed at what I saw. The living room was spotless. None of Lily's toys and coloring books were on the floor. I walked around a little more. No messes.

Just then, Alice jumped out of my bedroom. "Whew. Your place was a bigger disaster than I imagined. Never fear, though, Bells. Alice is here."

"You cleaned my apartment?" I questioned. "Really?"

"Uh-huh. I figured since Edward was coming over here to pick you up, you'd want the place to be in tip-top shape. And thanks to me, and Lily," she said, my daughter sneaking up behind her, "this place looks great."

I was still a little puzzled. "Yeah, but why did you clean my room?"

"Well, Bella. You're going on a date…" she trailed off. "I—I didn't know what might happen after that…"

"Oh. _Oh._" I knew exactly what she meant, and, as far as I was concerned, that wasn't going to happen. I already had gotten pregnant with one kid that was not expected. I really didn't need to worry about another. "Um…You don't have to worry about that, Ali."

"Well, I didn't know that. I mean, I hoped you wouldn't but you never know."

"Never know what?" asked Lily.

"Nothing," I answered quickly. The last thing I needed was to have the sex talk with a toddler. I looked back at Alice and wordlessly told her to cut it out by giving her my coldest glare.

"You never know," she said again. "Anyway, we got to get ready for your guy."

"He's not my guy," I insisted, even though I secretly hoped he would be.

Alice just flicked her wrist at me. "Don't worry. It will happen. But until then, we must make you beautiful. Well, even more beautiful than what you are, I mean."

"I got you, Ali. Now, let's go." She pulled me with her into my bedroom and told Lily to go play in her own room.

"Let's get to work," she said. Alice pushed me down onto a chair that she brought into the room and stared long and hard at me. "Hmm… Bella, how do you feel about straight hair?"

"I feel that I have no choice in the matter so just do what you want," I replied.

"Good answer. What's your make-up preference?" was her next question.

"None. You already know that, Alice." I don't wear a lot of make-up, I don't do my hair in interesting ways…

Alice sighed. "Bells, you're not helping me here."

"I thought you were supposed to be helping me, not the other way around," I teased. "Just do whatever you want. Go crazy."

"Fine. I will then. Don't be complaining when I'm done." She stared at me some more and then looked in a duffel bag. When she walked back over to me, I saw a straightener and a brush in her hands. "Let's do this," she said.

She worked on my hair for what seemed like an eternity. I fidgeted and complained, but she never stopped. Alice is persistent like that. When she finished, I was still not allowed to look in a mirror. "Not until everything is complete," she told me.

Next, she had a make-up kit. This frightened me more than anything. I had seen Alice get ready for dates of her own before and she went all out. If she put stuff on my face that she put on hers, I would look like a clown.

When that was over, she brought out a silky blue dress. "Go change," Alice commanded so I followed her instructions. Not wanting to change in front of her, I asked her if she would leave the room. When she was gone, I quickly changed but restrained myself from looking at myself. I told her she could come in.

She looked me over and did what she called "touching up."

Finally, she told me she was done. "Here you go," she said, handing me a mirror. "Perfection sits before me."

I knew that mirrors held a reflection of what was in front of it, and I knew that I was in front of it. But the image staring back at me was not me.

The face in the mirror had a light blush on her cheeks, but this time, it wasn't from embarrassment; it was just part of the make-up. Her mouth was plump with red lipstick, but there was no clown here. Her hair was straight, sleek.

She was a vision of beauty and it was hard to believe she was me.

Alice saw my dumbfounded face and smiled. "You look gorgeous. Wait until you see the whole body view. The dress looks great."

"Alice…" I started. I couldn't believe she had made me look like this.

"Ooh, I almost forgot the shoes!" she squealed. She ran out of the room.

"I can't wear heels," I called after her, but she wasn't listening. Once she was back, I restated my worries. "I will trip everywhere I go."

"No, you won't," she said. "You'll be fine. Look how pretty these are." She held up a pair of black stilettos.

"Yeah, they're great, but they will kill me," I told her. "They are death traps, I know it."

Alice shoved the shoes into my hands. "Just give them a chance."

I glared at the stupid shoes and hesitantly put them on my feet. When they were on, I glanced down at them. "I'll deal with them."

"Yay! Oh, you are going to have so much fun tonight. I can feel it." She was grinning from ear to ear. "Don't you feel beautiful?"

"Yeah, I guess. I still think I'm going to fall and die. Then how guilty will you feel?"

Alice shook her head. "I will feel no guilt. I did no wrong here. My job was to make you beautiful and I succeeded. You're job will be to have fun and make Edward Cullen fall in love with you. And I believe that will be accomplished."

"Not gonna happen," I said, standing up and balancing myself. "It's just dinner."

"Don't ruin this for me. Now, come on; stand on the bed and look in the dresser's mirror."

"Ali," I moaned. "I'm going to hit the floor as soon as I get up there."

Beaming, Alice said, "I know. That's why I'll be standing up there with you. You're like a little baby who can't stay up on her own. It's kind of cute." She grabbed my hand and dragged me onto the bed.

"It's not going to be cute when I'm getting a taste of the carpet," I retorted.

"Can it, Swan. You'll be fine." She pointed to the mirror. "Oh, my! Who is that stunning creature? Why, isn't that Isabella Swan?"

I glared at her, something I've been doing a lot of lately. "Quit making fun of me," I growled.

"I am so not," she defended. She lifted her wrist to see her watch. "It is a quarter after seven. If Edward's smart, he'll be here before eight."

I contemplated this. "Maybe he's not smart."

"Please. He's written three best selling books and is only, like, twenty-two. He obviously has some brains." A new thought came to her. "Lily would love to see how amazing you look!"

She yanked me off of the bed and out of my door. Lily was playing with a Barbie doll in the living room. "Lil!" Alice called. "Look at Mommy."

Lily looked up at me and exclaimed, "Wow, Mommy. You look prettier than Barbie. Where are you going?"

Alice answered for me. "Remember Edward from yesterday?" Lily nodded. "Well, your mom is going to be hanging out with him tonight. But don't worry 'cause you and I are going to party!"

I furrowed my brow in disapproval. "Um…I don't think so."

The two of them were paying no attention to me. "Really?" my bright-eyed daughter questioned, as if she didn't believe Alice.

"Of course," Alice replied. "What do you think we're going to do?"

"Mommy, when's Edward coming? Me and Aunt Alice have lots of stuff to talk about."

I was about to answer her, but Alice once again beat me to it. "He'll be here very shortly."

With a shake of my head, I went back into my room and brought my purse out. When I walked into where Alice and Lily were, as if on cue, the doorbell rang. "I got it," I called. I pretty much sprinted to the door, heels and all. Opening it, I was greeted by what looked like the face of a Greek Adonis. "Hi," I said, lamely.

"Hey," Edward replied. He stared at me for a few moments. At first I thought that something was wrong until he said, "You look…Wow."

I looked him over also. Wearing a silk button down shirt that was a shade of blue and a pair of black pants, how amazing Edward looked was hard to put into words. I just laughed. "You don't look too bad yourself."

He laughed along with me until Alice came over. "Hey, Edward. How've you been?"

"Good. And how about you, Alice? Everything's fine?"

She grinned at him. "Oh, yeah. It's all good. Actually, meeting you again just made my day a whole lot better."

Edward looked like he was going to respond, but he didn't get the chance. Lily was rushing towards us.

"Edward! Edward!" she screamed. Then she paused. "Wait. That is your name, right?"

Laughing the moment she said that, Edward choked out a "Yes" for an answer.

"Okay," I said, trying to control the situation. "Edward and I really have to get going now." I leaned down and kissed Lily's cheek. "Bye, sweetie. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Mommy. Bye, Edward. Me and Alice are gonna have a party," she said proudly.

Edward laughed a little more. "Sounds fun." He turns back to me. "Ready to go then?"

I nodded and we were off, out the door. Edward gently grabbed my hand and held onto it. The simple touch was electrifying. All of a sudden, I felt all tingly inside.

Standing in the parking lot, I wondered what car he drove. There was a suspicious Rolls Royce in the lot, but there was also a Mercedes. With my hand still clasped in his, Edward led me to a silver car. It was a Volvo.

Edward, being the gentleman that he was, opened the door for me. "Your chariot awaits, Miss Swan."

"You are such a dork," I said, teasing him.

"Well, you're just…rude," he said while chuckling. "Just get in the car."

I did so without making fun of him. The seats were more comfy than the ones in my truck, that was certain. _I could get used to this_, I thought. Edward walked around to the other side and got in the driver's seat.

Once he was settled, he smiled at me and said, "So how have you been since I saw you last?"

"You mean yesterday?" I asked, returning the smile.

"When else would I mean?"

I giggled but answered. "I thought Alice was going to kill me." As he drove, Edward raised his eyebrow wonderment. "She did all this," I explained, pointing to my face and dress.

"Oh," he said, understanding. "What, did she think you couldn't be beautiful without her help?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I never want to know what that girl is thinking. Too weird."

"Yeah, but come on. You were gorgeous the way you looked yesterday."

My obvious reaction was to blush, which I did. Then I said, "But that wasn't suitable for a date."

Edward snorted. "Like I care so much about how you look. Am I that shallow?"

The question seemed rhetorical, but I felt the need to answer it. I didn't want him to think I thought he only cared about looks. "No, you're not. It's just…You're a celebrity and I'm nobody."

Edward's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. When he spoke, his voice was strained. "Does being me being famous matter to you?"

I stared at his hands as I said, "No, I don't care about any of that."

He sighed, his whole body relaxing. "Good. 'Cause I don't care either."

Since that conversation was now hopefully over, I had something else on my mind. "Where are we going? We never decided on anything, but you know exactly where you're going."

"Oh, that's a secret that I'm keeping to myself." He chuckled and looked at me. "It's not far from here. I've only been to this place a couple of times but it's pretty good."

I nodded, not knowing what to say. I didn't like being in the dark about where Edward was taking me. "Why can't you tell me?" I asked after a few minutes went by. I was getting irritated.

"Because it's a secret. Do you know what that means?" he taunted. Without letting me actually answer, he continued. "Nothing you do will make me tell."

I slumped in my seat, even more agitated than before. "That's not nice."

"Don't care," he said shortly.

We drove around for a while longer but I paid no attention. Edward and I remained silent. It wasn't until the car came to a stop that he spoke.

"We here," he said quietly. I didn't respond so he questioned, "You're not mad 'cause I wouldn't tell you where we were going, are you?"

With a glare, I said, "Yeah, I don't like to be clueless."

He shook his head. "Bella, you are most definitely not clueless. Now, come on. Let's go eat."

He got out of the car while I unbuckled my seatbelt. He cheered me up a little, but I was still kind of mad. Edward was at my door, opening it for me.

"See? I'm still nice," he said when I got out of the car. "Do you forgive me yet?"

"I guess," I replied. "But you better buy me a dinner I'll never forget."

He smirked at me, something that he did a lot. "Don't you worry, Miss Swan. I plan on it."

Edward took me into an Italian restaurant. It was small and quiet inside with not many people there.

In a matter of minutes, we were seated at a booth in the back of the place. One of the workers, a younger woman, probably in her early twenties, handed us menus.

"If you need anything, I won't be far," she said, leaning over the table. Her shirt should not have been so low cut, if you ask me. She was talking to Edward, not even turning to look at me. "I'll be back soon to take your orders."

"That wasn't weird at all," I said sarcastically. "She should've just flashed you."

"Um…what did you just say?" Edward had no idea what I was talking about.

"She had her…business up in your face," I said with disgust. "She should have flashed you; it would have been less obvious."

Edward had a blank look on his face. "I didn't even notice, I guess. I was just looking at you."

Blushing a deep pink, I looked down at the menu. "I still think you would have noticed. It was so distracting."

I felt Edward's hand lift up my chin, urging me to look at him. "Well, you were distracting me."

We heard the clearing of a woman's throat and Edward immediately withdrew his hand. "Are you ready to order now?" asked the waitress from earlier.

Mortified, I glanced at the menu and ordered the first thing that I saw. "Sure…I'll have the mushroom ravioli."

"I'll have the same," Edward piped up.

The woman brightened up when he spoke. "Good. It's very delicious. And what would you like to drink?"

Edward looked at me, forcing the waitress to do the same. "Uh…I guess I'll have a Coke," I said uncertainly.

Looking exasperated with me, the waitress gazed at my date. "And how about you?"

With his eyes still on me, Edward said, in a remote tone, "Again, I'll have the same."

"I'll be back with your food shortly," the waitress said. I had noticed that the nametag she had on her revealing shirt sported the name "Amber." She walked away, visibly flaunting her assets in the direction of Edward.

"I know why you brought me here," I said to Edward once she was out of earshot.

"Oh, yeah? Why then?"

"'Cause you wanted to stare at Amber," I accused jokingly.

"If I wanted to stare at—you say her name is Amber—then why was I only looking at you, Bella? You obviously have a terrible logic."

I cocked an eyebrow at him "You callin' me dumb?" I knew he was kidding but I just loved messing with him.

"No, dumb is not a word that I would associate with you," he commented. "Instead I'd use something like 'clever and stunning.' How about that?"

I smiled at him as I saw Amber approaching. "Better. Much better."

"Here's your meal," she said, setting the plates down on the table, along with the Cokes. "Anything else?"

"No thank you," Edward said, and she walked off again, this time in huff. "Well, what are you waiting for? Dig in."

We both began eating our dinner, all the while asking little questions about each other in between.

"When did the writing bug get you?" I wondered aloud once my mouth had no food in it.

Edward stopped chewing for a second and thought about it. "Probably when I was thirteen. That's when I got serious about it anyway." He ate another bite. "Tell me about your daughter," he urged, his mouth full.

"Lily is…Well, Lily's just Lily. There's no way to really describe her." I was at a loss for words. "She's been my whole world for two years."

"She seems like she'd be fun to be around," Edward noted. "Especially when Alice is around."

I groaned. "Oh, when Alice gets her, she turns into a monster. It's double trouble, seriously. They make me age prematurely."

Edward chuckled. "Speaking of aging, are you ever going to tell me how old you are?"

There was something in Edward's face that made me want to tell him everything. Tell him about James, my problems with my dad, just everything. But some things couldn't be told. Not yet, anyway. My age, I decided at that minute, was not one of those things. "I'm, um, eighteen."

"Now, was that so hard? Did it kill you to tell me? No, I don't think it did." He took a sip of his drink. "I'm twenty-two, in case you're wondering."

Being honest with him relieved me in a way. I didn't have to keep everything a secret. By knowing my age, he had to have now known that I was only sixteen when I had Lily, and he didn't even flinch. "So did you write your books while you were still in college?"

Suddenly, he looked a little embarrassed. "Uh…I kind of didn't go to college."

"Oh," I said, trying to mask my surprise. "Why not?"

He scratched his head. "I don't know really. College life just never appealed to me, I guess. It wasn't something I really wanted to do. My parents, on the other hand, they wanted me to go." His eyes pierced mine. "How about you? Do you want to go to college?"

"I don't know," I said honestly. "I never really thought about it. Maybe if things were different…"

The subject was dropped right after that. We discussed other things. Edward asked a few more questions about my daughter and I answered them gladly. I asked him about his books.

"How did you decide to write a vampire love story?"

"My mother, she told me about this dream she had. She only told me the gist of what happened in it, but I just sort of took the idea and ran with it. And that's how my first book came about."

More questions and laughs followed. After our food was finished, Edward gazed at me. "Ready to get out of here?"

I nodded and he took my hand and led me out of the eatery. We made it into the car. Once our doors were closed, he put a CD in. He started humming a song that sounded familiar to me.

"Is that 'Clair de Lune?" I asked when I recognized it.

"Mm-hmm. How do you know Debussy?"

"Renee, my mom, used to play all kinds of music in the house when I was little. She listened to this a lot," I explained. "It was one of my favorites."

"It's always been one of mine, also. Sometimes, I use it for inspiration." He went back to humming.

Before I knew it, we were back in the parking lot of my building. I looked at the clock on the dashboard. Ten o'clock. Alice better not have Lily up.

I got out of the car in haste. Edward followed me up into the complex, holding onto my hand. When we made it to the door of my room, I turned to face him. "I had a great time tonight."

"Uh-huh. Me, too," he said, rubbing circles on the palm of my hand.

We were quiet for a few seconds. Edward pushed some loose strands of hair out of my face, behind my ear. He leaned closer until our faces were centimeters apart. I was waiting to feel his lips on mine and they were so close. He was right there and then…

"Bella!" Alice squealed, opening the door.

Edward jumped back, startled. "Hi, Alice," he said, rightfully annoyed.

"Hey, Ali," I mumbled.

Alice paid no attention to our sour mood. She was too chipper. "I saw you guys pulling in and figured I'd just greet you at the door."

Running a hand through his hair, a sign that he was uncomfortable, Edward said, "Bella, I'll, uh, see you later. Night."

"Good night, Edward," I called as he walked away. Alice was smiling like an idiot. "You, inside," I demanded.

Once in the living room, Alice was still grinning. "What?" she asked, all too innocent.

I wagged my finger in her face. "Don't you ever do that again."

"Do what?"

I stared her down. "Get out of my home," I growled.

She giggled and practically sang, "I'm sorry, Bella." She was wise and left right away.

If she hadn't gotten out of there, Alice would have known what it felt like to have a high heeled shoe planted up her butt.

**Um…I'm sorry, I think. I'm sure you all were expecting some making out between Bella and Edward, but this idea just came to me last minute. Yell at me if you must. I don't think I'd blame you. Just tell me what you think. :)**


	4. Times Like These

A/N: I had some serious writer's block so this might turn out a little crappy. Luckily, I had some interesting conversations with people from this site, and they gave me some sort of inspiration. So did the great Red Hot Chili Peppers, the only band that matters to me. Anyway, I just want to thank everyone who has read this story so far. You guys rock. :)

Disclaimer: Twilight, sadly, is not owned by me. Only Stephenie Meyer can make that claim.

It was out of love, I'm sure. Alice just felt this need to keep me safe. She was probably worried because she didn't want me to get hurt the way I did before.

But just because her intentions were sweet doesn't mean my future actions would be. As I was contemplating all the ways to torture the pixie, I heard footsteps scurrying toward me.

"Mommy!" said a ray of sunshine in the form of Lily. She stood right in front of me at my feet. It kind of reminded me of a small puppy.

"Hey, Lil. How was your party?" I asked, figuring she would want to tell me all about it.

"It was fine," she answered vaguely. "We watched a movie."

She obviously was not satisfied with how her evening turned out. _That would make two of us_, I thought to myself."Oh, really? Well, what did you watch? 'Confessions of a Shopoholic?' 'Cause that would fit Alice perfectly." The look Lily gave me let me know the answer. "She did?"

Lily nodded. "I hated it. It was just like how Aunt Alice is all day. It was so annoying."

"Aw, honey. I'm sorry you had such a bad time," I tried to comfort. "You wanna hear how my night went?"

This time, her nod was eager. "Mm-hmm. I wanna hear all about Edward."

"Okay," I said, glad that I could cheer her up. "Let's go sit on the couch. I'll tell you all the good details." I sat down and Lily scrambled onto my lap. "Well," I started. "He was perfect. He held the doors open for me, he said I was beautiful. It was like he was Prince Charming."

"Wow," Lily said when I was done in a wistful tone. "Mommy, do you think I'll ever get my own Prince Charming?"

I touched her nose lightly with my finger. "Of course, you will. Any boy would be lucky to have you on his arm. You are a princess after all." I looked at the clock. "A princess who has to go to bed now."

She crossed her arms across her chest. "I don't wanna."

"Well, guess what? I don't care if you wanna or not. I'm the boss here, and you do what I say."

Lily jumped off of the couch and stomped her foot on the floor. In an effort to get me so mad that I'd just decide to let her stay up, she stuck her tongue out at me. Once she realized that her tactics were not working, she stormed off into her room.

Smiling to myself, I followed her. Despite her anger, I knew she would feel sad if I didn't put her to bed. When I walked into her room, she was sitting in the middle of the floor.

"What?" she asked upon seeing me enter.

"I was just going to tuck you in, Lil," I said, getting defensive. She turned her head away from me. I sat down next to her on the floor. "Listen. I'm sorry. It's just…I'm doing this for your own good. And a good night's sleep equals a better tomorrow."

She looked up at me. "You mean I won't have to watch a dumb movie with Aunt Alice?"

"Yeah, that's what I mean. So get in bed, and I'll tell you a story."

With my help, Lily was in her crib. Once she was settled, she said, "I wanna hear about Snow White."

"All right." I began my own interpretation of the fairy tale. "Well, long ago, a baby girl was born to royalty. With such fair skin, she was named 'Snow White.'" I continued with the story until I saw my own princess nodding off.

Once she was sleeping, I kissed her forehead. "Good night, Lil," I said softly before turning the lights off and walking out of her room.

Walking to my own room, I realized that I had to get all of the make-up off of my face. It just felt unnatural to me. I quickly made my way into the bathroom instead.

The mirror still showed someone that was foreign to me. I knew I had to get that stuff off before I really freaked out. I grabbed a washcloth and doused it with water. Desperately, I scrubbed my face with it, getting rid of the colors Alice put on me. When I looked at myself afterwards, however, there were red splotches all over me because of the rag.

"Lovely," I muttered, throwing the rag down. "Just lovely. I wonder how pretty Edward would think I am now." I rushed into my room and changed out of the dress and shoes I was wearing. I was getting sick of them already. Once they were off, I tossed them to the side. I felt relieved looking knowing that I was done with them. In a hurry, I changed into my shorts and tattered t-shirt to wear to bed.

As I sat in my bed, about to go to sleep, I thought about two books that were sitting in my living room. I ran out of my room and found Edward's books sitting on my coffee table. I picked up the one, "Over the Moon," and took it with me to my bedroom.

In my room, I stared at the book. From the moment I opened it and read the first page, I couldn't help, once again, but read the whole story.

By the time dawn approached, the book was finished. It was amazing. It was breathtaking. It made me cry. I loved it.

I set the book down on my nightstand and left my room. I sat on my couch and thought over what Alice did. "The nerve of her," I mumbled.

All morning, until I had to wake Lily up, I thought about the ways I could get back at her. My first idea was to tell Jasper that she was in love with him, but I thought that would be too mean. After mulling over it for a long time, I came up with the perfect plan.

I was going to steal Alice's credit cards.

Knowing Alice for as long as I had gave me some insight into her world. One thing I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, was that she could not live without those stupid cards. So if she just so happened to lose them…

I shuddered, slightly afraid of what she would do. At times, her stature could be deceiving. She was feisty, for lack of a better word.

I knew Alice would be coming to my house soon so I had to concoct a plan. I also knew that she would hang out with Lily for a little while. The thought came into my mind then. When Alice was with my daughter, I would sneak over to her bag and snatch her credit cards.

That time would come soon, for I heard the evil pixie's dumb car pulling in half an hour later when Lily had just awoken. As she knocked on the door, I all too eagerly opened it.

"Hey, Ali!" I excitedly greeted. "How was your night?"

Seeming wary of my cheeriness, she said briefly, "Fine."

"Fine? That's all? Just fine? Well, it's better than feeling like crap, right?" I was rambling and Alice was getting uncomfortable.

"Um, yeah. Where's Lil at?" Alice was looking over my shoulder for any signs of Lily.

"She's in her room," I replied. I had carefully told Lil to be there when Alice came over. She was unaware of my plans though.

Still looking suspicious, Alice walked down the hall, leaving her purse behind, just like I hoped. Everything was going according to plan.

Making sure the coast was clear, I waltzed over to the couch where she dropped off her bag. I grabbed it quickly and rummaged through it, feeling for her wallet. "Aha!" I whispered once I got a hold of it.

I opened it, still afraid that Alice would walk in on me, and grabbed the first five credit cards that I saw. I rapidly shoved them into my back pocket. Right after I did that, I heard footsteps coming down the hall.

I sat down on the couch, trying to act inconspicuous. It didn't seem to work.

"Mommy?" Lily said curiously. "What are you doing? You don't look so good." She came over and put her hand on my forehead. "Do you have a fever or something? You don't feel warm."

"I'm good," I said, not wanting her to make a big deal out of nothing. "Everything's cool."

"That's good," Alice sighed. "Now, you can tell me all about your date. Was he nice? Did he pay or make you? Did he kiss you? Don't give me that look, Bella. You know I mean _before_ he dropped you off."

"Are you done?" I asked. "Only so many questions I can answer." I took a deep breath as she sat on the couch with me. "Yes, he was nice. The sweetest guy ever, really. He paid, of course. Why would he make me? And no, he did not kiss me, no thanks to you, Ali."

She looked remorseful enough. "I'm sorry, Bells. I was just afraid that things might go a little too far."

"I know," I said, feeling a little bad about taking the credit cards. "But you just have to trust me. I can take care of myself."

Alice closed her eyes and nodded. "And you can put what you took out of my purse back into it." Her eyes were now opened and glaring at me.

"Um…I…Well, what happened was…" I stammered. "I just…well…"

"Just put whatever it was back in now, and we say we're even, all right?" Alice suggested. "And if you really don't want me to know what it is, I'll turn my back so you can do what you need to."

Feeling like a misbehaving child, I took the cards out of my pocket and put them into the slots in her wallet. "There," I said. "It's back in there."

"Good," she said, turning back around. "I'll forgive you if you forgive me."

"Fine," I replied, knowing that there was no other choice. "You're forgiven."

Alice clapped her hands together. "That's what I thought. So everything else was fine on your date then?"

"Mm-hmm. All went well." I didn't want to go too in depth. Alice didn't need to know everything.

"Well, are you going on another date?" she demanded. "Inquiring minds want to know here."

I scrunched up my nose and gave her an honest answer. "I don't really know yet. It's all so unclear."

"What's so unclear about it? Is there a second date or not?"

Shaking my head, I said, "I guess not. I mean, he has my number and everything, but there's no second date yet."

"Don't worry," Alice sang. "He'll ask you out again soon. He's smitten already, I'm sure."

I shrugged, unsure of whether to believe her. All I said was "Well, I guess we'll see what happens." I looked over at her. "I had a good time anyway."

"And that's all that matters, right?" Alice responded, patting my hand. "You had fun and if he didn't, screw him."

"Ali!" I chastised. "That's mean. It's no one's fault if he didn't enjoy himself. We may just have different tastes. It's not the end of the world."

Our conversation mellowed out after that and soon, Alice had to leave. Shopping, I assumed. So I was left alone with Lily, who was sitting on my lap, once again.

She looked hopefully up at me. "Jell-O?" she asked.

"Why, of course, Miss Lil." I picked her up and took her to the kitchen and got her yet another pack of Jell-O. It was becoming such an obsession for her.

The rest of the day was a breeze. No call from Edward, but everything else went fine. Hanging out with Lily was always entertaining. We watched all of her favorite movies, "Cinderella," "Shrek," and "Snow White." She was in a Disney mood.

When night finally came and it was time to put her to bed, I felt a tad bit depressed. I was going to have nothing to do. I was in my room, feeling bored and alone.

I didn't feel like reading Edward's third book. I knew it was too early in our relationship, if it was even that, to be so hung up on him, but I couldn't help it. I didn't want anything to do with him at that moment.

When sleep finally came, I was relieved. I didn't want to just lay in bed forever.

**x-X-x**

The morning brought me an interesting scene. I got up out of my bed and scurried down the hall, into the living room. Sitting on the couch was Lily and Alice.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned.

Alice smiled. "What does it look like? I'm watching cartoons with my favorite girl. "Scooby Doo" is on."

"Right. Um, just one question. How did you get into my home?"

Knowing that she was somehow in the wrong, Alice said, "Uh…I—I may have at some point gotten my a copy of your keys."

"'Cause there's nothing weird about that at all," I said sarcastically.

"Yeah, well…" 

Lily butted in. "What are you guys talking about?"

"It's nothing important, Lil," I told her. "It usually isn't." I looked at Alice. "It's still a little creepy."

Alice shrugged and said, "I don't really want to talk about it right now." She was completely humiliated.

I gave up on trying to get an answer from her and we got on as if nothing happened.

"So," Alice began. "Has Edward called you yet?" She tried to sound nonchalant, as if she was being very offhand, but I could hear the burning curiosity that was hidden.

I sighed. "No, not yet." I think my voice showed more of my dejection than I hoped it would. "I don't know if he will."

"It's going to be fine," she said, detecting the sadness. "He'll call sometime. Trust me."

That topic of conversation was done after that. Instead, we began talking about how Jasper was still not paying attention to her.

"I was at Rose's and he was there," she was saying. "I tried to talk to him but he just was not interested." Alice groaned. "What am I doing wrong?"

"There is nothing that you are doing wrong. Jazz probably just doesn't know what to do with the beautiful pixie that's always in front of him. It's his loss, not yours."

That seemed to empower her. Alice stood up. "Yeah! Maybe I should quit wasting my time on him. I mean, I've only ever focused on him since the fourth grade. All the other guys I dated didn't matter to me. I'm going to start dating again." She sat back down again. "Where can I find willing guys?"

"Don't look at me. I'm the last person you should be asking. If anyone would know, it would be Rosalie," I said. I knew she found guys all of the time. She had a new fling almost every other day.

Alice looked at me as if I just gave her the most amazing idea ever. "Perfect! I'm going to call Rose—hopefully, she isn't with Emmett—and I am going to forget all about Jasper."

It didn't take long for Alice to escape my apartment. As she walked out the door, she was already giving Rosalie a call. Though I would never tell Alice this, I knew she wouldn't last long seeing somebody who wasn't Jasper.

I went on to do my motherly tasks. I got Lily dressed, got her cleaned up, made her breakfast, and then put her back in front of the cartoons. It wasn't everyday when she was so easy to please.

While Lil watched television in the living room, I sat on my bed, listening to Radiohead and reading Edward's third book. Once again, though I didn't finish it right away, I was overwhelmed by its brilliance.

By lunchtime, Lily was in my room. "What are we gonna eat now?"

Setting my book down, I replied, "I don't know. What do you want to have?"

She shrugged. "I got no clue. What are you having?"

It was my turn to shrug. "Don't know. I didn't think much about it. Spaghetti, maybe?"

"Yeah, let's have pascetti," she cheered.

"It's spaghetti," I corrected. "Spaghetti." She followed me into the kitchen where I got her lunch ready. I put the sauce on her food and handed it to her while she sat on the couch. "If you make a mess, you will never be able to eat again," I threatened.

She just giggled at my severity and began eating. Then she asked a question out of the blue. "Mommy, how's Grandpa?"

It took me off guard. Lily never talked about my dad. She didn't really know much about him at all. She had only been around him a handful of times. "Um, he's fine, I guess."

"When do you think I'll get to see him again?" she asked, apparently full of questions.

"I…I don't really know, Lil," I answered truthfully. "Whenever you want to see him."

"Okay," she said, resuming her eating.

I was thrown off by her question. Charlie wasn't a topic of discussion on a regular basis. I wondered if Alice had put Lily up to it.

Breezing past quickly was one way to describe the rest of the afternoon. Not one exciting thing happened. It was now time to make dinner and I wasn't at all hungry. I had tried my best to finish Edward's book, but was unable to, for I was still upset that he hadn't called.

I did my best to focus on the chicken that I was cooking. I set the table, I prepared everything. Soon, it was time to eat so I dragged Lily over to the table and put her in her special seat. "Ready to eat?"

Lil nodded eagerly and said, "Mm-hmm. The food's gonna be yummy!"

"I wouldn't bet on that," I said, remembering the little attention that I paid to the food. "Here you go." I placed her plate on the table.

We had just begun eating when a knock sounded at the door. "It's probably Alice," I muttered. I got up from my chair and went to answer the door. Once it was open, I was met with an interesting surprise.

"Edward? What are you doing here?"

With a sheepish smile on his face, he admitted, "I…I just wanted to see you again." A nervous hand ran through his hair, and I stayed quiet. My silence was misread. "Um, if you want me to leave, I will."

"No," I said rapidly. I opened the door further. "Come in."

He shyly walked into my apartment. "I know there's supposed to be some unspoken rule about a guy not calling a girl too soon after their date," Edward was saying. "I'm sorry for not calling you, by the way. It's inexcusable."

"I wouldn't say that," I chimed in. "It could be excused."

"Thank you," he said, smiling. "Anyway, I just couldn't go another day without seeing you. So here I am." He looked around the room. "I'm not intruding, am I?"

"Of course not. Lil and I were just having dinner. You're welcome to join us if you want," I offered. "We're having chicken."

"Sure," he said. "Where is Lily?"

Right on cue, Lily, who was still in the kitchen, screamed, "I'm in here!"

Edward stared at me for a second. "She's in the kitchen," I told him. "It's right this way." I walked ahead of him into the room where Lil sat. "You can sit where you want." I grabbed another plate and put the food on it. Edward was sitting in the chair opposite of me. After putting his food in front of him, I sat in my chair.

"How was your yesterday, Lily?" Edward asked my daughter, who was stuffing her face.

"It was good," she said softly. "How was yours?"

"Fine," he answered. "I missed your mom though."

Lily had a ready answer. "I think she missed you, too."

After blinking a couple times, Edward finally said, "Really? I figured the feeling wasn't so mutual."

"What's mutual mean?" Lil asked.

I watched as Edward slightly struggled to tell her. "Um, it means you share the same feelings. I think," he added a bit uncertainly.

I was almost ashamed at how much I enjoyed seeing Edward baffled. I giggled at the sight. "I think your definition is correct," I said.

"I'm glad you find this funny," he said dryly.

I laughed again. "That I do, Mr. Cullen. That I do." I took a sip from my glass of water.

Lily had an impatient look on her face. "Are you guys not gonna pay any attention to me?" Her face now donned a scowl and a pout. The fact that Edward and I were speaking to only each other now seemed to bother her.

"No," Edward assured her. "What do you want to talk about? Ask away, Lily."

Lily didn't need to be told twice. "Why do you like Mommy?"

I nearly choked on my water. "W—what?" I sputtered out.

"I wasn't asking you. I asked Edward."

Gaping at her, Edward was struggling to come up with an answer again. "Well, I…Your mother, she… I think your mom is one of the most beautiful ladies I've ever come across," he finally responded.

I didn't know what to say to him so I just stayed silent. Lily, however, still was not deterred. Her questions kept on coming. "How old are you? Where are you from? What's your favorite color? Mine's pink." It went on and on. I was unable to talk to Edward once she got started.

When our dinner was finally finished, I took Lily and put her in her room so she could play with her dolls. Once I was back in the kitchen where Edward was still seated, I said, "I am so sorry about that."

He only shook his head. "No, it was fine. She's adorable. In an annoying kind of way," he added with a chuckle. "But absolutely charming."

"I'd definitely go with annoying. But I have no choice but to love her. She came from me after all. She still needs to be told not to badger people with so many questions."

Shrugging, Edward replied, "She was just wondering about who her mom is hanging out with. It's understandable, even if it's coming from a two year old."

"Yeah, but still…" I didn't get to finish.

"I said it was fine, didn't I? The least of my worries is a little girl asking me about simple things. It's not like all those stupid interviews that I have to do." He sighed. "This was nothing."

I put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him in any way possible. "I'm sorry. I can't even begin to imagine how hard that would be. Dealing with all of those people, trying to get into your personal life. I'm sure it's difficult," I said, not knowing what else I could tell him.

He rested his hand on top of mine. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped on you. It's just…I had an interview yesterday and the lady was just…unbearable." He shuddered.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, sensing his unease.

"Not right now," he answered truthfully. He got out of his chair and looked me in the eye. A strange expression crossed his face as he leaned in closer to me. "Bella," he whispered. "Close your eyes."

I did as he said and let my eyelids shroud my eyes. I could feel Edward's warm breath on my face and, in the next instant, his mouth was on mine.

At first, I didn't know what to do. All sorts of emotions overwhelmed me. My hands instinctively went to Edward's messy hair. My fingers raked through it. A burning sensation went through my body.

When we pulled apart, our breathing was ragged. "I'm sorry," was the first thing Edward said once he composed himself.

"For what?" I said, still trying to catch my breath. I had no idea what he was apologizing for.

"I shouldn't have went that far," he said. "That was wrong of me." He looked everywhere but at me.

I wasn't looking at him now either. Suddenly, the floor became very intriguing. "It's okay," I replied. "I wouldn't say it was wrong."

"No, I…I…" Edward was at a loss for words. I felt his hand on my chin, urging me to look up at him. "I don't want to go too fast. But believe me, I do want to see you again."

I sighed in relief. "I want to see you, too," I said softly.

He looked at his watch for a brief moment and then looked back at me. "I got to go," he said, sounding disappointed. "A late radio interview."

"Okay," I responded, almost inaudibly. "It's part of your job."

"Can I take you out again?" he asked. "The other day was a lot of fun."

I smiled at him. "What do you think my answer is?" I teased. "Of course, I will go out with you again. Just name the time and the place."

"Are we really going through with that again? I can't make decisions on the spot."

"Fine. Pick me up tomorrow at seven," I said, taking control. "I'll pick the place this time."

"All right, then. I will see you then." Edward bent down and kissed my cheek. "Don't let Alice dress you up this time. You're beautiful without all that gunk on your face." After he said that, Edward walked toward the door, calling out, "Good night!"

Once he was gone, I nearly melted onto the floor, thinking about our kiss.

There you have it. The fourth chapter. I hope that it slightly lived up to your expectations. If it didn't, I will take full responsibility. Now, why don't you click on the lovely review button and tell me what you think.


	5. Any Time At All

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews and subscriptions and so on. It means so much to me that you all like it. Anyway, I hope this chapter is just as good as the past ones. :)**

**Disclaimer: Twilight does not belong to me. Unless I'm Stephenie Meyer, but I don't think that I am.**

I was still reeling from Edward's kiss. It made me dizzy just thinking about it. For the first time in a while, I couldn't wait to see Alice to tell her about this.

Instead I had to face Lily.

"What was the real reason Edward was here?" was the first thing she asked.

"The same reason he told you he was here," I promptly answered. "He said he wanted to see me."

Lily pondered over this for some time. "So he didn't do anything?" She was sounding like my mother. Or at least Alice. When I shook my head, she seemed satisfied with the response. "I like Edward," she said suddenly.

I stared at her though I wasn't entirely shocked at her statement. "I do, too."

"I can tell," my daughter replied.

I gasped. Was my attraction to Edward that noticeable or was Lily more intuitive than an average toddler?

I walked away from her, not wanting to hear any more of her insights. She was making me nervous. My room was the place that I found peace, but I knew I'd have to see Lily again. I had to put her to bed of course. But for a little while, I was able to have some time alone. I reflected on the previous moment with Edward. It was the only thing that kept replaying in my mind, over and over again. The only word that could properly describe it was magical.

When I came out of my room, I was attacked by Lily. "Mommy, I gots to go to bed. I don't wanna, but I gots to."

Chuckling, I said, "Okay. Let's go." I picked her up and we went into her room. As I was about to set her gingerly down in her crib, she unexpectedly kissed my cheek.

"I love you, Mommy," she said softly.

Like always, her words touched me. "Love you, too, Lil." I put her to bed and then quietly went off as I saw her falling asleep. Silent as a mouse, I backed out of her room.

I was thinking over where I was going to force Edward to go on our next date. My brain flashed. I knew the answer.

When I went to sleep, I was more excited than ever to wake up the next morning.

The day was going fairly quickly. To my great surprise, I hadn't heard from Alice. That was definitely not in her character. She was usually coming over at all times of the day. I was a little concerned.

When my phone rang, I picked it up, expecting it to be her. It wasn't.

"Bella?" a slightly worried Edward said. "Since I don't know where I'm going, I have no idea what to wear."

I laughed at his tone. "It's just totally casual. Jeans and a t-shirt will do."

Edward sighed in relief. "Thanks for telling me. I was so concerned. I didn't want to get to dressed up, but—"

"Hey," I interjected. "Don't lose sleep over it. Everything today is just going to be very laid-back. Nothing fancy, no dressing up." I hoped that what I was telling him calmed him somewhat.

"All right, good. I'll see you at seven then," Edward said.

"Okay," I replied and then hung up the phone. I walked around the house. There was still five hours left until I would see Edward.

I began randomly walking around the house, mainly because I still hadn't heard from Alice. It was getting weird and I was getting anxious. I was gathering up my purse when the phone rang again. I rushed to it. "Hello?"

"Bella!" the thrilled pixie squealed. "How ya been?"

I was wary of her tone. "Fine," I said, cautious. "How about you? I haven't talked to you in over twenty-four hours. That's a record."

"Oh, you're never going to guess where I'm at right now," Alice said, ignoring my question.

"Where?" I sighed.

She let out a fit of giggles. "I'm in Jasper's bed." More giggles emerged.

"What?" I cried. "How…When…What happened?" I couldn't believe my ears.

Some more giggles ensued, along with a deeper chuckle in the background. Jasper. Finally, Alice started talking. "Remember when I said I was going out with Rose? Well, Jazz was there, too." A few more giggles. "And then, we kind of hooked up."

What Alice told me infuriated me. Just a couple days earlier, she was lecturing me on taking things too far, and this is what she does. My rage overcame my happiness for her finally getting Jasper. "Alice," I whispered for fear she would figure out how angry I was. "Can we talk about this later? I have things to do."

"Sure," she said, surprised. "I'll call you later." If I wasn't going to see Alice for a while, there was one thing to do that I wasn't looking forward to.

I still had the phone in my hand as I looked in my little address book with phone numbers. Under the "S" section, I found the number that I hadn't called in a long time. I dialed it and awaited the answer.

"Yeah?" the voice said.

"Dad," I said uncertainly. "Can you do me a favor?"

What shocked me about my conversation with my father was how understanding he sounded. When I asked him if he would mind watching Lily, he didn't hesitate saying, "Sure. I'd love to see her."

"Thank you so much," I told him. "When can I drop her off?"

By the sound of his voice, he was probably shrugging. "Doesn't matter. Whenever you get time," he replied.

"Okay, I'll see you in a couple of hours. Is that okay?"

He said it was fine and we got off the phone. It was strange having a civil discussion with my dad. The last time I really talked to Charlie, he was yelling at me, telling me I was making too many mistakes, that I was being an idiot for having a baby so young.

This talk, however, was normal. It was as if nothing had ever happened between us. It actually felt pretty good.

Time was ticking down. I was ready, I knew where I was going with Edward. All I had to do was take Lily to Charlie's house.

I had told her about it already and she was happy about seeing him. When I told her it was time to go, she got even more excited. My truck, on the other hand, did not.

"What's wrong with this thing?" I grumbled once it wouldn't start. "I hate this stupid thing." I tried starting it again but it just wouldn't work. "Ugh! This idiotic piece of junk!"

"Mommy?" a curious Lily said. "The truck's not stupid. I like the truck."

"Honey, in this case, the truck is ridiculously dimwitted," I said. "When it doesn't work right, I'm not going to be friends with it." I tried to start it again but to no avail. After getting out of the decrepit truck, I took Lily out of it also. "I need a new plan," I mumbled.

The wireless phone was sitting on the coffee table, right where I had left it. I dialed Edward's number. If there was anyone who would help me, I knew I could count on him.

"Bella, what's up?" he said as soon as he answered. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not really. I just need a ride somewhere to drop off Lily," I told him.

"Oh, I thought it was something really bad. I can come as soon as you want."

I thought briefly. "Um, just come as soon as possible."

"I will see you in a few minutes." He hung up the phone.

I sighed. "Guess what, Lil?" I said, trying to be upbeat. "Edward is going to take you to Grandpa's."

Her eyes widened. "Really?" When I nodded, a larger grin came to her face but she said nothing more.

In the next five minutes, Edward arrived. He was on the fast track to becoming my hero. When I climbed in his Volvo, after getting Lily in her little seat, he said, "Okay. Where to?"

I hesitantly replied, "I need to take Lily to my dad's house. Alice is…preoccupied at the moment."

Edward nodded. "Ah, I see. She had her own hot date."

I shifted in my seat. "Yeah, something like that."

I gave Edward general directions to Charlie's house and said I would tell him when his place was coming up. When we came to it, I pointed it out. "There."

He pulled in where I told him, but I instructed him to stay in the car. If Charlie saw him, he would freak. The moment I had Lil unbuckled, she jumped out of the car. She was running toward Charlie's door before I could stop her.

"She's a vibrant one," Edward murmured but I was too busy jogging after her to reply.

"Lil!" I shouted. When I reached her, she was banging loudly on the door.

Finally, after numerous poundings on Lily's part, Charlie answered the door. "Hey, kid," he said once his eyes fell upon Lily. "How ya been?"

"Good," she responded, excitement lacing her voice.

Charlie looked me over. "How 'bout you, Bells? You good?"

I nodded, not nearly as eager as Lily. "Yeah, I'm good. Nothing's really going on so…" I trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

"Who you with? I know that isn't your car," was the next thing he said.

I didn't have to answer, for that officially became Lily's job. "That's Edward. He's a friend of Mommy's."

My dad raised an eyebrow. "A friend, eh?"

"Yeah, dad. A friend," I stressed. I was not going to discuss my personal business with my father.

"Mommy wants to get rid of me now, I think. She really has to go. Right, Mommy?" she said, looking at me.

"Yeah, sweetie. I do have to go. You can read my mind." With a wave good-bye to both of them, I walked away. I was in the car in a heartbeat. "Okay, let's go," I said with a sigh.

"I don't know where I'm going," Edward reminded me. "We can't go anywhere."

"Oh, yeah. You're right. That's a secret I'm keeping to myself," I said, repeating the words he used on our first date.

Edward inhaled through his nose. "Then explain to me how we are going to get there."

I smirked. "Easy. I'm driving."

He proceeded to glare at me, but went on in a controlled tone. "That's not easy at all. Your truck is broken. How are you driving?" His eyes were smoldering with anger. I was thinking about cowering in my seat, but I didn't back down.

"Get out of the car," I commanded.

His arms were crossed. "No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Edward," I said in a whiny voice. "I want this to be a surprise."

It seemed as if his resolve was about to crumble. Instead, he said, "Bella" in the same voice as mine.

"Come on. Why are you being difficult right now? Just let me drive."

He looked sideways at me. "I don't think so."

I just stared right back at him. "I do. Now, give me the keys and switch places with me."

With the anger still evident in his features, he slipped out of the car and walked around to my side. "Get out," he said after opening the door for me. I was out and scurried toward the driver's side. When I was in, he was still glaring. "You are so lucky that I feel nice today."

I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Edward." As a response, he stiffly nodded. "Are you angry?" No reply. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," he said. He smiled at me, a real smile, not a forced one. "I deserve it, don't I? I wouldn't tell you where I was taking you."

"Truer words were never spoken," I said as I pulled out of Charlie's driveway.

I drove for a few minutes and noticed Edward was getting impatient. "Where are we going? Are we there yet?"

"No," I replied. "I'm not telling you where I'm taking you." I continued to drive until I knew that I was getting closer. "Hey, close your eyes for a few minutes."

"Why?" Edward asked. "What are you going to do to me?"

"Just close your eyes. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised." I watched him closely until his eyes were unseen. "Good boy," I said, patting his head like a dog. "It won't be much longer now."

I pulled into the parking lot and told him he could open his eyes.

Once they were open, they widened in shock. "Oh, my God!" He took in the sight around him and calmed down. He looked over at me in awe. "You brought me to Pizza Hut."

Grinning smugly at him, I said, "Your books always mention Pizza Hut in it somewhere. I assumed you liked the place."

Edward just stared. "You assumed correctly." He silently got out of his car and I followed. Holding his right hand out to me, he said, "Bella, you're amazing."

"Yeah, yeah," I responded, not wanting to hear the compliment.

When we were inside the pizza establishment, he whispered in my ear, "Are we eating here or taking it to go?"

"Whichever you want." I already knew his answer. He picked the closest booth.

"I'm just getting plain pizza, just cheese and pepperoni," he told me.

"That's fine," I said, taking a seat. It didn't take long for Edward to be back, pizza in hand.

"Here you go." He placed it in front of me. "And what would you like to drink, lovely Bella?"

I giggled at the name. "Coke, please."

He was off again, fetching us drinks. It didn't take long for him to return. He was sitting across from me in a few seconds. "I still can't believe that this is what you came up with."

"It's good, isn't it?" From the beginning, I was confident that he would like it. Seeing that he did, I was pleased.

"Quite," Edward replied. He looked around the place. "I haven't been in one of these places in ages. I forgot what it was like."

"Well, I'm glad I could share such a moment with you." I took a bite of my pizza and looked at Edward. He was staring at me. "What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. It's just… Nothing." It was perplexing, the way he was staring at me.

We stayed silent for quite some time. Finally, I spoke. "Why did you stop to talk to me that day at my work?"

With a puzzled expression, he pondered. "I'm not really sure. I just felt like it, I guess. I can't really explain it." He shrugged.

"Okay," I said, letting his vague answer slide.

Our conversations afterward varied in subjects. Sometimes, we talked about our childhoods, and other times, we discussed where we see our future going.

"I don't care about being a generation's favorite author," Edward was saying. "Actually, I'd prefer it if they would all stop reading the books, stop buying them. Everything would be…so much more simple." He glanced up at me. "Does that sound bad?"

I shook my head. "Well, if you said that in an interview, you'd probably come off unappreciative. But, since you're just talking to me, I think it sounds pretty reasonable."

"I feel that if I told anyone this, they would tell me it didn't matter. That I have to just shut up, smile, and deal with it." He gazed up at me. "Thank you for not saying that."

"No problem," I said easily. I was telling him the truth. I would feel the same way. "I would stink at all the publicity stuff. You handle it fairly well."

"You weren't there the first time I had to deal with the press," he said with a sigh. "I was on the verge of yelling and telling them all to go to hell." When he laughed at the memory, it was humorless. "I kind of wish I had said that."

"No you don't. If you had, you would have alienated yourself from your fans. Do you want to become one of those secluded authors who go crazy?"

"I believe I would like that actually," he said. "But then again, if that was the case, I would never have met you."

"That can't be much of a highlight," I mumbled.

"You're wrong," he whispered. It was so low that I wondered if I was meant to hear it. Then, his voice was much more clear. "It's been one of the high points of my life."

I blushed a deep crimson at his words. "You're over exaggerating," I responded softly, looking down at the table.

"Nah, not really." He reached across the table and lifted my face up. "It may have been the best time of my life." He chuckled. "Okay, last night was the best ever but only 'cause I got to kiss you."

I didn't think it was possible for my face to get any redder but Edward squelched my theory. "You can't be serious."

With the most solemn expression, Edward leaned forward and said, "Do I look like I'm joking?"

I took a swig of Coke before answering. "No. I guess not. But I still think you're going overboard."

All he did was roll his eyes at me. "You're wrong," he said again, this time loud and clear.

"Until such a fact is proven, I have no response," I said, only half joking. I looked at the clock on the wall. "Anyway, there's no time for these strange arguments. I have to go pick up my daughter."

"Ah, yes," he sighed. "The infamous Lily shall be returned to you."

"You're an idiot," I blurted out.

He smirked. "Yeah, but I'm an idiot whose car works. You can't make that claim, can you, Bella?"

"Shut up." I stood up and watched him stand, too. We both walked out of the pizza place together and got in his car. I let Edward drive this time.

"You're going to have to show me the way 'cause I don't remember things that quickly," he said, referring to Charlie's house.

"I will tell you when we get there," I informed him.

Edward, being a massive speeder, made it to my dad's house in mere minutes. I hopped out of the car and then cautiously knocked on Charlie's door.

After one knock, the door was open and Lily came bounding out. "Mommy," she cried, wrapping her arms around my legs. "I missed you."

"Same here, Lil," I replied. I saw my dad inside the house, seemingly afraid to come out. "Hey, Dad." I waved.

"Hi, Bells," he said, stepping outside. "Lily, can you give your mom and I a moment alone?" Charlie seemed like he didn't really want to talk to me but figured it was a good idea.

"Go in the car, Lil," I told her and she obeyed. "What's up, Dad?"

"She's a good kid. A little loud and wild. But all around good and sweet." He paused there but then went on. "She's kinda like you. Apart from the loudness, I mean."

I mustered up a smile for him. "Thanks, Dad. That means a lot."

"Yeah, well…"

"Does that mean you'll allow me to use your babysitting skills?" I wondered.

He shifted from one foot to the other. "Yeah, I guess."

Wanting to spare him any more awkwardness, I said, "I'll talk to you later, Dad," and turned around and walked toward the car. When I got in, the first thing I heard was Lily.

"…And we watched baseball and ate all kinds of candy and he showed me his cop uniform and…"

"Lily, enough," I said. "You don't have to tell Edward everything that you did."

Edward chuckled. "No, it's fine. I find it quite entertaining."

Lily looked at me as if to say "See?" but said nothing until she continued to launch into her tales of the hours spent at Charlie's home. "He even let me hold his police gun," she said suddenly.

"What?" Edward and I shouted at the same time.

Lily continued like she hadn't heard us. "I wonder if he's ever shooted anyone with it."

I glanced at Edward, who was glancing at me. "It was probably unloaded," he said, trying to comfort me since I was in freak out mode.

"Yeah, but still…"

He put a reassuring hand on mine. "Don't worry about it. I highly doubt your father would let Lily shoot herself." Trying to distract me, he put the radio on. I paid no attention to the song that was playing. It held no interest. Then Edward began to sing.

"I look at the world and I notice it's turning. While my guitar gently weeps." His voice was hilariously off-key, but he didn't mind. As he continued to completely butcher the song, I broke out in hysterics.

"What's wrong with you?" I choked out.

"What? Don't you like my singing?" he said, laughing.

"George Harrison does that song way better than you." The moment I started laughing, Lily began also, though I don't think she knew what was going on.

Edward faked being appalled. "Are you saying that I don't do Harrison justice?"

"Yeah, I think that is what I'm saying."

"Oh! That is just not very nice at all." He shook his head, still feigning his hurt. "I'm way better than any of those Beatles."

"No, what you are is paranoid."

"Trust me, Bella. I am up to par with those Brits, if not way ahead of them." He turned the radio off after that, far too embarrassed to admit that he had nothing on the biggest band from Liverpool.

He continued to drive to my apartment and I was thankful that he didn't start singing again. If he had, Lily and I would have gone deaf.

The rest of the car ride was hushed, which was probably because Lily had fallen asleep in her car seat. When we were in the parking lot of my place, I gazed at her. "She looks like a little angel," I said almost inaudibly.

Edward looked back at her also. "Yeah, she does. Sort of like her mom."

I smiled gently at his words. "I gotta put her to bed."

"Can I come inside?" he pressed.

I bit my lip. "Um, yeah. Sure." I took Lily, along with her car seat, out of Edward's Volvo and walked into the building with him on my heels. When we made it to my door, I realized that my hands were full. "Hey, Edward, can you reach in my purse and get my keys?"

"Yep," he answered and took them out. "Would you like me to open the door also?"

"That would be helpful," I said.

He opened the door and made sure that I didn't drop the delicate child in my arms. While I put her to bed, Edward sat on the couch, making himself at home.

When I went into the living room, he was fiddling with the television remote, flipping through all sorts of channels. Seeing me walk in, he asked, "Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you hadn't had Lily?"

I was caught off guard, but I took a seat next to him and thought about the question. "I don't know what life would be like without her," I said after some hesitation.

"You're such a good mother. I would be the worst kind of dad imaginable," he confessed. "How do you deal with it?"

"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade," I answer with a laugh. Then I become serious. "There's nothing I can do about it. I could never give her up. Not for a million dollars."

"That's what mothers are supposed to say." He leaned over toward me and kissed me softly for a few seconds, then pulled away. "I envy you in some ways."

"What? Why?"

"You have everything handled. You're usually so calm. I'm not. At all," he adds.

I shot a puzzled look at him. "You're calm when I'm around you."

"But you've only been around me a handful of times," he replies.

Deciding not to question him, I instead kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Hopefully, I'll be seeing you more often."

**Ta-da! I'm going to try to update sooner, now that summer's coming and I'll have more free time. But until then, click on the review button and tell me what you think. **


	6. Wildflowers

**A/N: I cannot even begin to tell you how sorry I am that I've taken so long updating. I've just been distracted. Anyway, everything is back on track, hopefully. Thank you all so much for all of the reviews and everything on the last chapter. It means so much to me. Oh, and you should totally join LilMissRainbow (go read her story, it's amazing) and I in our crusade against writer's block 'cause it's evil.**

**Disclaimer: Anything that is recognizable, Edward Cullen, for example, is not mine, no matter how much I wish it were.**

A week had passed since that night and within that week, I could feel Edward opening up to me more. I was pleased with that but was surprised at how well I was able to be myself around him. Though I was unable to tell him everything about my past, I was able to tell him more than I originally anticipated.

We were sitting on my couch one afternoon while Lily watched "Dora the Explorer" reruns. Since she was completely engrossed in the show, Edward and I were having conversations that ranged in topics and were holding hands. We had been talking about our favorite holidays, mine being Christmas, of course, and his being Thanksgiving.

"But on Christmas, you get presents," I was telling him. "How does it get better than presents?"

He merely rolled his eyes. "Thanksgiving means good food. You have the turkey, the stuffing…"

"I don't like stuffing," I said with a mock pout.

"Well, I don't like ham," he responded, giving a much better looking pout than mine. "Isn't ham the universal Christmas food?"

"Hold on, hold on. Back up a minute here," I said. "You don't like ham? What kind of person are you?"

Edward's eyes shifted around. "Um, a person who doesn't like ham?" he guessed.

"No, just the worst person in the world," I gave him the correct answer. "Why don't you like ham? Do you hate bacon, too?"

"I don't hate bacon. I don't hate ham either. It's just not my thing." He shrugged.

I put my hand on my chest. "I'm sorry, Edward. But this just won't work. You don't like ham and I love it. It's not meant to be, I guess."

Raising an eyebrow at me, he said, "So the only way I can win you over is if I absolutely love ham?" When I nodded, he went on. "Fine. Ham is the most delicious meat in the world. I've never tasted anything like it. Pigs are my favorite animals just because they are what create the ham. Better?"

I nodded in approval. "Much. But don't worry. If you don't want ham, I won't make you eat it, okay?"

"Bella, just so you know, I will probably do anything you want to force me to do," he whispered. "Anything."

My breathing hitched and I was about to kiss him, but Lily ruined the moment.

"Why does Dora keep asking me all these questions? Isn't the map right in front of her? Can't she see where the mountain is?"

I squeezed my eyes closed for a second and heard Edward sigh. "Hey, um, Lil. Why don't you go in your room for a little while and play with your toys?"

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Why are you trying to get rid of me, Mommy?"

"No, no," I backtracked. "I'm not trying to get rid of you. I just figured since you're so upset with Dora, you wouldn't want to be watching her anymore."

A smile came to her face. "Good idea. Thanks, Mommy." She hopped off as if nothing had happened.

I gazed up at Edward and was planning on kissing him but he stopped me. "What?" I asked, irritated.

"Can I ask you a question?" he wondered while playing with a strand of my hair.

"Sure. Go ahead."

Edward concentrated on the lock of hair as he asked, "Last week, when you dropped off Lily at your dad's, why did things seem so…weird between you?"

"Oh. Well," I faltered, unsure of how to explain. "My dad is sort of traditional in the way that a man and woman should be married before any kids come. And I kinda did it backwards. So he was never happy about that."

"But he couldn't just blame you for that. It wasn't just your fault."

I stopped him right there. "I've thought about this many times and I want you to put it into this perspective. What if you're a dad and your only daughter, your sixteen-year-old daughter, tells you that she's pregnant? Wouldn't you be mad? Wouldn't you feel that you're losing her?"

Taking my hand in his, Edward looked into my eyes. "I get what you mean. But I don't know how someone can be mad at you."

I giggled. "You only know my nice side. I can be really mean," I informed him.

"Of course, you can," he said before pressing his lips to mine.

**x-X-x**

I had not spoken to Alice since she called me that day while she just so happened to be in bed with Jasper. I was appalled with her behavior and how she could be such a hypocrite. What right did she have to boss me around and give me all sorts of lectures, just to do the exact same thing that she didn't want me to do?

While I wasn't concerned over how Alice's visits were scant, Lily sure was. "When is Aunty Alice gonna come over, Mommy?" she asked on more than one occasion.

"I don't know, sweetie," I kept telling her. "I'll tell you as soon as I get an update."

I wasn't lying to her. I really didn't know when Alice would ever stop by. I, however, wasn't going to fret over it. If Alice didn't want to talk to me, I wasn't going to force her to. And I had a feeling that as long as she was in her "love cocoon" with Jasper, she wasn't going to be thinking about me.

For days, I hadn't heard from her and I wasn't at all troubled. A few hours after Edward had left from my apartment, the loud shrill of the phone sounded. I picked it up, only to hear my pixie friend's voice.

"Bella?" she said. "I haven't talked to you, in like, forever. How've you been?"

"So, so," I responded nonchalantly. "Lil's been wondering when you're gonna get here. She feels like you're neglecting her."

An annoying giggle came from her. "Well, you tell her that I'll be there ASAP, okay? As soon as I'm able to escape." Alice had assumed that I was going to laugh along with her so when I didn't, she got worried. "Uh, Bells. What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all," I said, trying to be aloof. "So what have you been up to? Any more stuff with Jasper? Any progress or whatever?"

"Not really," she said slowly. "We're having dinner tonight with Rose and her boyfriend. I'm still kind of shocked that they're still together actually. Hey, maybe you and Edward could come," she suggested. "Then it might not be so miserable for me."

I didn't really want to do anything with her, let alone with Rosalie involved. Alice would be all over Jasper and Rose had a thing for sitting on her boyfriends' laps. "Alice…" I trailed off. I was hesitant to agree to anything.

"Oh, come on," she whined and I could imagine her batting her eyelashes. "It will be so much fun."

"For you, not for me," I muttered quietly.

"What was that?" Alice asked.

"Nothing," I quickly said. "I will see what I can do. But if Edward does not want to go, I'm not going to force him to, all right?"

"Fine," she huffed. "When I come over later, I'll give you all the details. Got to go. Bye!"

Before I had a chance to say anything, Alice had already hung up. I set the phone back down and went to find Lily. She was sitting on the couch watching more television.

"Why does every show involve singing?" she asked when she saw me.

"I don't know," I said, a little puzzled. "Hey, I think Alice will be coming over today."

Her eyes immediately brightened. "Really? I haven't seen her in so long."

I nodded. "Yeah, I know. But you might have to go to Grandpa's house tonight. I think she's dragging me to some stupid dinner."

"That's okay. Grandpa's fun sometimes," Lily replied. "We'll watch baseball."

I picked her up and smiled. "You like watching baseball? I used to hate it. Well, I still hate it. It's just some guys throwing little balls, hitting them, then catching them. Nothing too exciting."

"I don't pay no attention to it," Lily said with a grin. "I just listen to his old music."

"Really? What kind? Do you know any names?" I was curious as to what my baby girl was listening to.

She pursed her lip and thought over the question. "There were all kinds. Um…" She tapped her chin. "We heard…um…Oh! Bob Dylan. I think that was his name. And, uh…Tom Petty! That was another one."

"Ah," I said, nodding. "I've heard of them. I think Dad used to make me listen to them when I was little, too."

Lily shook her head and giggled. "Tom looks like a donkey."

"You shouldn't say that," I scolded with a small chuckle. "He has good music."

"Yeah, but his mouf makes him look like a donkey," she tried to reason.

"Mouth," I corrected. "It's pronounced mouth."

"It doesn't matter," she groaned. "The point is he looks like a donkey. But that's all right 'cause I think donkeys are cool."

"Okay, enough with the donkeys. You better get cleaned up for Aunt Alice."

Before Alice was knocking on my door, I kept my eyes on Lily to make sure she didn't make a mess. If there's anything Alice loves, it's coming to my place and inspecting all the clutter that often is there.

Once Alice did arrive, everything was in tip-top shape. Not one thing was out of place.

"Bella," my friend said when she walked in. "It feels like it's been a whole year since I've seen you." She hugged me and kissed my cheek. "Have you talked to Edward yet?"

"No, not yet. I haven't been able to get a hold of him," I told her. "I'm sure he'll say yes." _Even if I wish he'll say no_, I mentally added.

"Good. Now, where's Lily?" Alice looked behind me as if she was expecting my daughter to just hop out of my butt and scare her.

"She's in her room playing right now. I'll go get her."

"No, no," she said. "I'll go get her. You can try calling Edward again." She vanished down the hall.

"Okay," I said, feeling a little confused. I went over and picked up my phone for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. I dialed Edward's number.

After ringing only two times, someone picked up. "Hello," Edward said.

"Hey," I replied, trying to sound more cheery than I actually was. "I was wondering…Are you busy tonight?"

"Why?" he asked skeptically.

"Well," I began. The next words all came out in a rush. "Alice and her boyfriend, if that's what you wanna call it, are stuck having dinner with her one friend and her new boyfriend. And she was wondering if I wanted to come too. And, of course, the only way I would go was if you would go. And if you don't want to, that's perfectly okay. I mean, I'm sure you have all sorts of things to do. You can't just drop everything and have dinner with my idiot friends. I don't have to go…"

"Sure. I'll go."

"Really?" I asked. "I figured you'd have some interview or something to do tonight."

"Nope," Edward said, laughing. "My schedule is clear for the night. I finished everything up about an hour ago. I am a free man."

"Well, that's good." I looked over my shoulder and saw Alice peeking from the hallway.

"Is he coming?" she whispered.

I nodded. "Edward, can you hold on a second?" I set the phone down before he answered. "Alice, I'm going to need to know what time."

"Okay, let me think. I got to try to remember what Rose told me." After thinking about it for a second, Alice had a response. "I think it was around six."

I picked up the phone once again and told Edward the time while Alice quietly ran back toward Lily's room.

"I'll be at your house at six-thirty, then," he assured me.

"Just beware. Rose can be a bit mean sometimes," I warned him.

He laughed again. "Bella, I think I can handle myself. Don't worry. Besides, as long as you're there, I'll be having the best time ever."

"I don't like liars, Mr. Cullen," I joked.

"Not lying, Miss Swan." A pause followed before Edward said, "Hey, I got to go. I'll see you tonight."

"All right. I'll see you. And be afraid, be very afraid," I said before hanging up.

Alice was now sitting on my couch with Lily on her lap. "So…" the former said. "He's coming, right?"

"That's what it sounds like," I answered. "And before you start, you are not giving me any sort of makeover."

"Why?" she whined.

"Because Edward prefers me when I don't look like a generic Barbie doll."

Looking more offended than I had ever seen her, Alice held her hand to her chest. "I'm sorry. I think I just heard you say 'generic Barbie.' I make you look like a million bucks. How could Edward think that you look bad?"

"It's not that he thinks I look bad," I said. "He just likes me better when I don't have all that gunk on my face."

"Gunk? Did you just call my make-up 'gunk'? You have got to be kidding me right now. You looked so pretty after I did all of that. Gorgeous, stunning. You looked like a divine goddess."

I held my hands up in defense. "Look, Ali. All I'm saying is Edward was not complaining when I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Maybe he gets sick of fancy dressing."

"Bella, honey, no man gets sick of their girl looking fabulous in a gown. And if they say that they don't, they're lying."

Glaring, I said, "So you're saying that every time Edward said I was beautiful, he was just lying, huh?"

Alice quickly retracted. "No, that's not what I'm saying at all. It's just…"

"Jasper only likes you when you have all kinds of make-up on your face?"

"What?" Alice asked, puzzled.

"If you are not wearing make-up," I said, "or a nice dress, Jasper doesn't find you attractive at all? You said that if a man thinks you're beautiful without that junk, they're not telling the truth."

"Jasper thinks I'm beautiful at all times!" she protested.

"Then why is it so impossible for Edward to think that way about me?" I threw back at her. She said nothing. "So if you're going to force me to go to this dinner and be around a person who doesn't like me very much and another who I don't know at all, do not—I repeat, do not—dress me up like I'm your own personal doll."

"Okay," Alice resigned. "I understand. I…I won't make you get all dressed up."

"Good," I said, proud that I had stuck up for myself. I knew that if I didn't grow a backbone at some point, Alice was going to take over my life. I may as well start with some clothes.

I spent the rest of the day getting ready. Since it was a dinner, and since Alice was going, I figured I should wear some sort of dressy outfit. I looked all through my closet, trying to find a dress, a skirt, something. Finally, far back against the wall, was a dark pink blouse and black pinstriped pants. "All I need is a pair of heels," I sighed. I scanned what I called "the land of the shoes," which was actually just underneath my bed. Pulling out every box, I didn't stop until I found some decent high-heeled shoes. "Eureka!" I shouted. In beneath all of the rubbish, in a dusty box, I found a simple pair of black, peep toed heels.

Once I had my ensemble put on, I looked in my mirror. "Hmm…I suppose I could work with this. It could have been a lot worse."

With my outfit all put together, the only thing that needed to be done was to make sure that my dad could baby-sit Lily. One quick phone call and that situation was handled. I was to drop her off at five.

Alice had already left, getting who knows what done to her hair. I knew for a fact that if anyone started using Botox in Forks, she would probably be the first one, even though she didn't need it.

Since my truck had been running fairly decently since my last trouble with it, I knew that, for the time being, I could still count on it.

I got in my old Chevy after putting Lily in her car seat and hoped for the best. The moment I turned the key, I heard the engine roar to life. "Thank God," I sighed and pulled out of the complex's parking lot.

It didn't take long for us to get to Charlie's house. I got Lily out of the truck, walked up the steps of the porch, and lightly rapped on the door.

Within seconds, Charlie was opening it. "Hey, Bells," he said. "And there's little Lily!" No one could deny the absolute joy that Charlie must have been feeling when he took my daughter out of my arms. He assessed my outfit for a moment. "Where ya going?"

"It's Alice," I groaned. "I have to go to a dinner with her tonight."

My dad nodded in understanding. "She's still like that, huh? Well, at least she's a nice girl. I remember she was always real polite when she came over here."

"Yeah, she's still like that usually. She can be sort of overwhelming sometimes though," I admitted.

"How so?" Charlie asked, letting out a small chuckle as Lily tugged at his shirt.

"I don't know," I said. "You can't really understand unless you're with her pretty much everyday like I am. But I love her either way, I guess."

Charlie nodded. "Well, you shouldn't keep Alice waiting then. You have any idea when you'll be back?"

I paused. "Um, I'm not really sure. Is there a certain time you want me to pick her up?"

"Nope," he replied. "You can take all the time you need. I actually enjoy hanging out with this little lady." He nodded toward Lily, who was staring at the trees.

"Okay, I'll give you a call when I'm done with Alice." I leaned down and kissed Lily's cheek. "Bye, sweetheart. Bye, Dad." I waved and walked back to the truck.

In the Chevy, I silently drove to my apartment. When I was there, I kept staring at the clock. Edward was supposed to be over soon. I might not have been excited to go to dinner with Alice and the rest but I was looking forward to being with Edward.

Right on time, I heard a knock at my door. I practically ran to answer it. "Hello," I said a tad bit breathless when I saw him.

Edward stood before me, wearing black dress pants with a dark blue button down shirt. His bronze hair was in a casual disarray like usual and in his hand was a bouquet of flowers. "Freesias," he said, handing them to me. "They remind me of you."

I held them to my nose and smelled them. "Hmm…" I sighed. "Let me put these in some water." When I walked toward the closet in the hall, Edward followed me.

"You look beautiful," he complimented as I found a vase in a box.

"You don't look too bad yourself," I said, going to the kitchen to fill the vase with water. Once it was in there, I placed the flowers gently in it, then set the vase on the kitchen table. "I'll just leave that there for now."

"So where are we going?" Edward asked.

"If I'm not mistaken, Alice said it was actually the same place you took me on our first date. It sounds like Rosalie's date had been there before, said the food was great, and now that's where we're going."

He smiled. "Sounds good. At least I know where that is."

"Yeah, I like that place," I said absently.

Edward was behind me then, playing with my hair. Leaning down by my ear, he whispered, "I don't think I want to go. I just want to steal you away."

"I wouldn't be objecting," I said with a sigh. I turned around to look at him. "But Alice would kill me, then castrate you." I laughed at my statement but Edward took it a bit more seriously.

"Yikes," he said with a frightened stare. "I barely know Alice but I can tell that she would. I better get you to that dinner." He grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door, barely giving me the chance to get my purse.

In his car, I felt comfortable. I had been in it enough times to get used to it. I even had the liberty to change the radio to any station that I felt like having it on. I took advantage of that a few seconds of sitting in the Volvo. Being picky about the music, I flipped turned the dial until I heard something remotely good. No Lady Gaga or La Roux would do for me. When I came across Nirvana, I figured I could get into that.

"'Come As You Are?' You like grunge?" asked Edward.

"If it's good," I answered. "And can you really go wrong with Nirvana?"

"I'm more of a Pearl Jam guy myself," he replied. "But if you want Nirvana, I'll listen to them."

"I thought only girls liked Eddie Vedder," I joked.

"What? Don't you like him?"

"No, he's fine," I answered. "I just like Nirvana a little more. Is there something wrong with that?"

Edward shook his head and laughed. "Oh, no. Nothing at all. Just sing your little song." He turned the volume up louder and started driving.

Sooner than later, we were at the restaurant, but I was too busy singing "Stadium Arcadium" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers badly to notice. "Stadium arcadium, a mirror to the moon. Well, I'm forming and I'm warming—"

"Bella, we're here," Edward interrupted.

I stuck out my tongue. "I was singing."

"And I was telling you that we're here," he countered. "Now, get out 'cause I want to live the rest of my life like a normal man."

I opened my door and stepped out of the car. "Jeez, someone's pushy this evening. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning or something?"

He sighed. "Bella, I'm pretty sure I just told you that I don't want to be castrated by the ever so scary Alice. I think that's a pretty good reason to want to get in and get out. So come on." Edward had just gotten out of the car and was now holding my hand, leading me to the restaurant's entrance.

When we walked in, one of the first things I saw was Alice waving like a maniac, motioning for us to join them. I nudged Edward's side. "There they are."

Looking like quite the distinguished couple, Edward and I walked over to the table where Alice sat along with Jasper, Rosalie, and her mystery man. Once we were at the table, they all stood up.

Alice literally bounced out of her seat and kissed my cheek. "Bella, I'm so glad you could make it." She pulled me closer and whispered, "You don't know how much this means to me. And Edward!" she said, her voice louder. "Great seeing you."

But Edward wasn't paying attention. Instead, he was staring at Rosalie's date. "Emmett?" he said, sounding surprised.

Emmett, who was much larger than I expected, looked shocked seeing Edward. "Cullen?" he retorted in the same tone.

Rosalie stared at the two men. "What's going on here?" She got no answer, for they were in their own little world.

"I haven't seen you in ages, man," Emmett said, sitting back down. "Seriously, how long has it been?"

Edward took a seat also but not before pulling my chair out for me. "I don't know at all. It's just been way too long."

Everyone at the table shared a peculiar look. I spoke up first. "Um, Edward?" I said. "You want to tell us how you two know each other?"

"Oh, yes. Of course. Emmett and I went to high school together in Seattle. We were fairly close," he explained.

I nodded in understanding, as did the rest of my dinner mates. Rosalie, however, wasn't satisfied.

"Wow," she said sarcastically. "What luck. The great Bella brings two old friends back together."

"Rose," Emmett said in an intimidating tone. She backed off after that.

We had finished eating in record time and the bill was paid. The rest of the dinner mainly consisted of Edward and Emmett catching up and discussing what they were doing now.

"Yeah," Emmett was saying. "It's funny. I never fancied myself as an accountant but that's what I'm doing."

Edward chuckled. "You have to admit, it _is_ strange. Big, bad Emmett McCarty, our school's greatest athlete, is now an accountant. Do you have to be all dressed up for it or what?"

"Eh, an occasional suit but not too much. When I'm meeting with a client, you know." He leaned back in his seat. "And what about you? Edward Cullen, a best selling author. I never thought you had it in you to actually publish your stuff."

"Well, I had a lot of encouragement," Edward responded.

Emmett was about to reply but Rosalie cut him off. "Babe, I'm full. I'm ready to go home."

"But Rose—"

"I said that I'm ready to go home," she said with more force.

"Okay," Emmett said, sounding like a scorned five-year old. He stood up and helped Rosalie out of her seat. "Edward, nice seeing you again." He extended his hand, which Edward gladly shook.

"You too. We have meet again. You know, on purpose, not on accident."

"All right then. Definitely," Emmett replied. Rosalie was giving him the death stare. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Alice, Jasper, Bella. I look forward to seeing you all again." Rosalie pretty much dragged him out of the eatery.

Edward was sitting there, still amazed that he had a run in with an old high school buddy. "Of all the people to see…"

"Yeah, that is a pretty strange coincidence," Alice agreed. "I'm done here, I think. How about you, Jazz?"

"If you're ready, I'm ready," he said. Taking Alice by the hand, he stood up. "Pleasure meeting you, Edward." The two men shook hands and Jasper gave me a brief hug. "See ya around, Bella."

"Then there was two," I said, wondering why Rosalie was in such a sour mood.

"You ready to get out of here?" Edward asked.

I nodded and got up. "Yep, I don't plan on eating anymore. I'm gonna have to call my dad first though. He's got Lily."

"You want to use my cell phone?" Edward offered.

"Sure." When he handed it to me, I dialed Charlie's number.

"Hello?" his voice said.

"Hey, Dad. It's Bella. We're done with dinner, I guess, so I should be over at your place pretty soon to pick up Lily. Is that fine?"

"Yeah, that's good," he said. "Did you have fun?"

"As much as I could."

Charlie laughed. "Well, I'll see you soon then." He hung up.

I handed Edward's phone back to him. "Do you remember where my dad's place is?"

"I have an idea of where it's at," he said. "I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find it." He shot me a confident smile.

Our drive was peaceful but I still was curious about his friendship with Emmett. "So how do you two know each other again?"

"High school," he answered simply. "When we went to school together, he was the big jock and I, well, wasn't. But our dads went back a long way. Em's family had moved from…which is where our dads both used to live. So when Em moved out to Seattle, we were kind of forced to pal around with each other, but it all worked out in the end." He shook his head. "I hadn't seen him since he went to college. It's surreal."

"Sure seems that way," I said. "But it's nice that you guys got reacquainted. Even if Rosalie had to cut it a little short."

"Yeah, what was up with her?" Edward asked.

I shrugged. I honestly had never spent that much time with Alice's Barbie-like friend. She was always pretty cold when she was around me. "Maybe she doesn't like sharing?" I suggested.

Edward said nothing more, for we were at Charlie's house. "I'm assuming that it's too soon for me to meet your father, right?" Edward asked me, giving me a crooked smile.

I gave him a smirk in return. "My dad is the chief of police. He's never too far away from a gun. You still want to meet him?"

"Maybe some other time," Edward said quickly.

I got out of the Volvo and saw my dad carrying a sleeping Lily out of his front door. Walking quickly, I made my way toward the two. "You wear her out?" I asked, taking my daughter from Charlie's hands.

"She was listening to a bunch of my old albums. Never have I seen a two-year old like music from the seventies so much," he said with a laugh.

I looked down at Lily's sleeping face. She looked so serene, so innocent. "Thanks for watching her, Dad," I told Charlie. "She's gonna need to sleep in her bed. I'm gonna have to get going."

He, too, looked down at Lily. "Night, little girl," he whispered before glancing up at me. "I'll see ya, Bells."

"All right. Night, Dad." I made my way to Edward's car and put Lily into the car seat that I had transferred from the Chevy to the Volvo. When Edward pulled out of Charlie's driveway, neither one of us put the radio on, for fear that Lil would wake from her slumber. By the time we made it to my apartment, her eyes were still closed.

"I'll help you with the door," Edward said, opening it for me. He walked over to the couch and sat down while I laid Lily into her crib.

When I emerged from Lil's room, I saw Edward pulling something out of his pocket. "What are you doing?" I wondered.

"Oh, nothing. I just have a question to ask you."

"Really?" I said, my eyebrows raised. "About what?" I sat down on the empty spot of the couch beside him.

"Well, you know about the movie premiere, right? For my book?" he asked. My response was a nod so he continued. "See, I don't like doing things like that—the red carpet and everything—and I definitely do not want to be there alone, surrounded by people I don't know. So I was thinking maybe you could be my date." He then showed me what had been in his pocket. It was a ticket to the movie premiere.

I took it from his hand and stared at it. "You want me to go?"

"Yeah, I figured since you liked the books and stuff, you'd like to be one of the first to see the movie. I'll be the first to admit," he began rambling, "that I don't think it's going to be the greatest movie in the world, but I think it will turn out pretty decent. So what do you say? You want to come with me?"

I wanted to tell him yes, but there was one thing that was bugging me. "If I go there with you…" I hesitated.

"Yes?" he said patiently.

"How will you introduce me?" I asked.

Edward looked perplex by my question. "What do you mean?"

"Am I a friend, a casual acquaintance? What?"

Appearing very deep in thought, Edward didn't answer for a while. "I didn't really think about that," he admitted. Finally, he came up with a response. "I don't know, my girlfriend, I guess."

For some reason, I still wasn't satisfied. "Is that what I am?"

Edward stared intently into my eyes. He leaned very close to me. When we were mere inches apart, he said, "Yes, I believe so. Is that okay?"

"Yes," I sighed, waiting for him to kiss me senseless.

"So will you go with me?" he asked again.

In the meekest manner imaginable, I nodded. "Uh-huh."

"All right, then." Edward quickly closed the small distance between us and captured my lips with his.

We stayed like that for a while, not wanting the moment to go away. But, of course, all good things must end at some point. The reason for this one being that Edward had another interview to do the next morning.

"I'll tell you as soon as I know what time the movie stuff is, okay?" he said after planting one more chaste kiss on my mouth.

"Okay," I replied, barely able to speak. I was able to stand up from the couch, however, to my surprise. Being the proper hostess that I could be, I walked him to my door. "Good night," I said as he stood outside in the hall.

Pushing back my hair gingerly, he ducked down and kissed the hollow space below my ear, making me shiver. "Good night," he said and in the next second, he was gone.

I numbly walked back to the couch and fell down with a sigh. Then, a realization hit. "Holy crow," I almost shouted. "I'm going to a movie premiere with Edward Cullen."

**How was that? Any good? Not at all? By the way, it is my personal belief that Tom Petty looks like a donkey from the front and a bird from the side. I figured I'd tell you that. Once again, I am so sorry for the long wait. I just haven't been able to get to work on this with my writer's block and my oral surgery that I just had done… Anyway, why don't you show me some love in a review? :)**


	7. Let Yourself Go

**A/N: I adore every review, favorite, alert, and so on, just so you know. I really need to stop listening to Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers; it's having some strange affect on me. But I won't stop 'cause I love 'em too much. Anyway, I hope you read, review, and enjoy. :)**

**Disclaimer: Nothing recognizable is owned by me. I think I'm going to cry about it now.**

"I can't believe Edward invited you to the premiere and he didn't get an extra ticket for me," Alice was ranting. She had been doing this ever since I told her about the invite. "He knows that I'm a huge fan, right? I know I told him."

A sigh escaped from me. "Maybe he didn't want to hear you going on and on about it. Or maybe he didn't want _me_ to hear you going on and on. And if that's the case, I like him even more."

Alice was not listening to me, of course. "I mean, I read his books a long time ago. I've been reading them forever. He couldn't have gotten me a ticket?"

"Maybe he's only allowed to have so many invites?" was my next suggestion.

"And I wouldn't be one of those people he gives them to?" she asked, fuming.

"He doesn't know who you are," I pointed out, finally getting her attention. "Just 'cause you're my friend doesn't mean that you're going to get ahead of things. I'm sure he has friends and family that he would want there."

"I bet Rose will be going. He's probably going to invite Emmett," she grumbled. "But Edward is not going to bring me along."

"You can't force him to," I told her. "He'll only invite those who he wants to."

"But why wouldn't he want to invite me?" she griped some more. "I'm so much fun to be around. And he likes me, right? What am I talking about? Of course he likes me. Who doesn't?"

I had heard enough of her voice. As much as I loved her, she still got on my nerves like no other. "Alice, why don't you just ask Edward why you're not invited? I'm sure he has a good reason."

She shook her head. "Oh, no. I couldn't. But you should totally ask him for me," she said, her eyes pleading.

I threw my head back. "You have to be kidding me. Are you crazy?" I asked. "You're the one crying about it, not me. You ask him."

"But I never see him," she tried telling me. "You're his girlfriend. You can ask."

"I was invited. I don't need to know why you weren't," I stated. "This is all on you. Besides, I'm still mad at you."

"What?" she cried. "Why? I didn't do anything!"

"You forced me into a dinner date with Rose," I said, ticking off the things on my list. "You tried to force me to put all sorts of crap on my face, and then you have the nerve to warn me about getting too involved with Edward by kissing him when you go and sleep with Jasper in five seconds!" By the time my tirade of sorts was over, I was a little out of breath.

During that episode, Alice stared at me, a quizzical expression pasted on her face. "What are you talking about?"

I sighed. "There was no hesitation when Jasper wants you, but Edward was going to kiss me and you have to interrupt. If you and I were in each other's places, I sure wouldn't have done that to you. And, apparently, I'm not allowed to be pretty without make-up. Or I'm just incapable of looking pretty."

"I never said that…" Alice whispered.

"Well, not in so many words, but it sure was implied," I retorted. "I might not be as pretty as you, but excuse me for thinking that because he said it, my boyfriend prefers me a certain way. I can't understand how Jasper can think you look great with messy hair but Edward must be lying if he says that to me."

"Bells, you know that's not what I meant," she insisted.

"How am I supposed to know? You don't usually say things for no reason," I countered. Alice was my best friend and nothing could change that, but even she should know not to say certain things out loud, at least.

Alice sank slowly onto my couch. A scowl and frown combined on her face, she wiped short strands of hair out of her face and exhaled loudly. Her eyes were on the verge of tearing up when she grabbed my hand. Looking at me intensely, she said, "Honey, I am so sorry for saying something like that to you. It was cruel, it was mean, and I most definitely did not mean it. Will you ever forgive me?"

Because she sounded sincere enough, and because I didn't want her to keep looking at me the way she was, I accepted her apology. "Um, yeah. Don't worry. I forgive you. For now. But don't try saying stuff like that to me again. And you're the one who's going to ask Edward about the premier."

"Aw," she said, sounding like a baby. "I really don't' want to."

"No forgiving unless you ask," I warned. "It's not like he'll bite you or anything. Just man up and ask him."

She stomped her foot on the floor. "But I don't think he's going to tell me. And when would I see him anyway?"

I had a ready answer for that one. "Well, my dear, you are in luck. Edward just so happens to be coming over this evening. Funny how stuff magically happens like that, huh?"

She didn't find much humor in it. "Fine. I'll ask him, but I won't like it. Are you guys going somewhere?" she asked, abruptly changing the subject. "Another date?"

I shook my head. "Nope. We're just going to hang out here. He's been pretty worn out from all the press and stuff for the movie. He says he barely even gets a good night's sleep anymore 'cause he's stuck always doing interviews. I'm getting kinda worried." It was true. Every time I called him, he was busy with something like that. Then, whenever I could get through to him, he was never in the mood to talk, considering he was extremely tired. Tonight was to be a relaxing night.

Alice's voice took me away from my thoughts. "So after I get my answer from Edward, I won't be needed, right? Because Jazz is taking me somewhere. Except I don't know where; he won't tell me."

My response was another shake of the head. "No, I don't believe we'll be in need of your services tonight. I'll be able to handle Lil."

"Yeah, I know you can handle her. It's Edward I'm worried about," she informed me. "He has no problem with her, does he?" My face must have looked pretty interesting because Alice immediately continued. "Well, sometimes, when a guy dates a single mother, they can't stand the kid. I just wanted to make sure Edward wasn't like that."

"I don't think that's going to be a problem, Ali," I assured her. "He treats her like she's his. It's amazing how well he gets along with her."

Nodding, Alice said, "Yeah, I figured he would be like that. Edward has something about him that makes him so likable. It's one of those undeniable qualities." She shrugged. But soon she was off on another subject entirely. "What is that guy doing, playing a tambourine _inside_ of a tambourine?"

Confused, I said, "Um, what are you talking about?"

"Look!" she shouted and I did as I was told. "That's that guy who sings 'Cars,' or whatever it's called."

"Gary Newman?" I wondered. "What are you watching?" I didn't need her response because I saw the channel. "Oh, the eighties' one hit wonders. Only Vh1 Classic would show that, huh?"

"I love seeing how those people dressed in those days," Alice said. "I would be embarrassed if I was them. I'm already embarrassed for them."

"Could be worse," I replied. "I think Lady Gaga is pretty bad."

"What?" Alice nearly shouted. "Lady Gaga is a fashion icon of today! What do you mean, she's pretty bad?"

I was utterly shocked by Alice's reaction. "Have you ever seen Gaga? She's either never wearing clothes or she's just wearing something ridiculously revealing. How is that iconic? She's just a rip off of Madonna anyway."

Alice gasped. "No, she isn't," she said. "Take that back."

"Uh-uh. I don't even want to talk about that freak anymore. She doesn't even have a good voice. It's all just electronically made. She actually sounds like crap," I said. "So I'm officially done with this conversation."

Since I had some time to kill before Edward came over, Alice and I continued to watch the strange people of the eighties. We both had a good laugh over their humongous hair and neon outfits. We also discovered that we loved the song, "867-5309," so much that we found it a necessity to dial the number. No one answered.

When Lily walked into the living room, she appeared disappointed. "Mommy, Edward's here. Didn't you know that?"

My giggles were cut short. "Seriously?"

"Yep, I just saw him pulling in," she answered shortly. "I saw him when I was looking out the window thingy."

I turned to Alice. "Well, Ali," I said. "This is your big chance. You finally get to ask Edward the question you've been waiting to ask. He's going to come up here and you're going to pop the question."

She smacked my hand. "Shut up. You sound like an idiot."

I opened and unlocked the door before Edward was even there. He looked surprised when I grabbed his arm. "Alice has something very, very important to ask you," I whispered in his ear. "Humor her."

Edward chuckled and walked in behind me. "I'm sure if I don't answer her, she's already armed and ready to attack. So trust me, I want to live so I will definitely answer her."

Alice jumped off of the couch when she saw Edward. "Hey!" she shouted. "I need to know something."

"Of course you do," he muttered.

"What was that? Oh, never mind. I don't really care," she said. "I want to know why you haven't given me my invite to your movie premiere." Since he didn't answer within two seconds, she asked again. "Did you hear me? I told you that I want to know why I wasn't invited."

"Oh, I heard you all right," Edward mumbled. "You just have to give me a moment to think." A moment was given and Edward came up with a response. "I happen to have two more tickets to go see it. One can be for you and a date. Jasper, right, is your boyfriend? So those tickets are yours…" There was a pause from Edward and a screech from Alice. "…on one condition."

"Ugh," Alice groaned. "There's always a condition. What is it?"

Edward gave her a sly grin. "You are to have no control on the outfit that the lovely Miss Bella wears on the red carpet. If she wants to wear a burlap sack, she can because that is her wish. If you can wear whatever your little heart desires, then so can she."

"Got that right," I brilliantly chimed in.

"But what if she does want to wear a burlap sack?" Alice asked. "Are you just going to let her?"

Shrugging and smiling, Edward said, "Yeah, if that's what she wants, fine by me. As long as she's comfortable." He put his arm around me but looked back at Alice. "So do you agree to our conditions?"

"Our?" she asked and glared at me. "You were a part of this?"

"Maybe," I said. "What difference does it make?"

Alice's head looked like it was going to explode. "Fine," she sighed. "I promise to have no control over Bella's outfit. But I will go crazy with mine just to bother her."

"I can deal with that," I said to Edward. "As long as I'm not wearing it, it doesn't make a bit of a difference to me."

"Great," Edward cheered, clapping his hands together. "Now that everybody's happy, Alice, I can give you your tickets." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the tickets. "Here you go." He put the small rectangles into her hand.

"Oh, Edward," Alice gushed. "Thank you so, so much. I absolutely love you for this." She put her arms around him and squeezed the life out of him. "You have no idea how much this means to me. Ooh, I can't wait to tell Jazz."

"Yeah, you better get to that," I told her. "Don't you two have that date to go on?"

She nodded, looking her happiest. "I better get going. I wouldn't want him waiting too long. Where's Lil? I want to tell her good-bye."

"Eh, she comes and goes," I answered. "She's probably in her room."

Alice was busy getting her purse and coat. "I don't have time to go looking for her. When you find her, tell her I said bye." She came over to me and hugged me. "Bye, Bells. Bye, Edward." A second later, she flitted out the door.

Edward cocked his eyebrow in my direction. "So," he said with a smirk. "I think we're alone now."

I groaned and it wasn't in a good way. Call it too much eighties' stuff, but the only thing I could think of was that annoying teen star, Tiffany, who was always playing at those malls in the time of spandex.

"What's wrong?" Edward asked upon hearing my reaction.

"It's nothing," I said, shaking my head. I didn't need to babble about the weirdness of what I watch in my free time. At least it wasn't anything too disgusting.

He leaned toward me after murmuring, "Okay, then. Where were we?" His lips were about to be on mine but…

"Mommy!"

The moment was gone. Lily was the light of my life but she could be a handful. I never knew when she was going to pop up, but when she did, it usually was at the worst time imaginable. I think it's something she learned from Alice.

Even though my insides were burning up, I put on a sweet face. "What do you want, Lil? It better be important," I muttered under my breath so she wouldn't hear.

"I'm hungry" was all she said.

"Okay," I said. "What do you want to eat?" I might act childish sometimes, but that doesn't meant that I know what a child is thinking.

She shook her head vigorously but then stopped at once, as if a light had been turned on. "I know what I want now." I waited in anticipation to hear what she would say. "Come here," she said, pulling me toward her so I would be at her level. Once she was satisfied with our proximity, she whispered, "Jell-O," and began to giggle.

"Ah, yes. Of course, of course. Jell-O," I repeated. I reached over and picked her up to swing her around. I heard Edward chuckle in the background but he wasn't my focus now. Lily was. "Well, where could that Jell-O be, hmm? Where could it be, where could it be?"

"The kitchen," Lil said.

I gave her a puzzled look. "What was that? I couldn't quite hear you. Could you speak louder?"

"The Jell-O is in the kitchen!" she shouted.

"Oh," I said, nodding to show I understood. I was in the kitchen next and looked at Lily with an expectant look. "Okay, so where is the Jell-O? I don't see it anywhere…"

"It's in the 'frigerator," Lily answered, exasperated. "Jell-O has to be in the cold, Mommy. You should know this."

"Oh, that's right. I forget sometimes." I opened the fridge and saw the Jell-O staring back at me. "That what you want?" I asked.

Excitement shining in her brown eyes, she said, "Mm-hmm."

"That's what I thought," I replied, taking a cup of the gelatin out. "Here you go, honey. Bon appetite."

"I need a spoon, Mommy," she said, frowning at me.

"Oh! That's right." I walked over to one of the drawers and pulled out a spoon. "There."

"Thank you," Lily said, instantly digging in.

I smiled at her. "No problem, kid." Since I had been holding her, I decided she would probably want to continue wandering around or whatever it was that she did so I put her down. After that, I saw her run down the hall. I sighed. Being around a toddler was difficult. I made my way back over to the couch where Edward was sitting.

One of his arms wrapped around me. "Can we continue?" he asked. "Is the coast all clear?" He didn't wait for my answer. Instead, he brought his lips to mine.

I could have stayed in that moment forever, but I had to get down to business. I pushed away from him. "When's the premiere?" I questioned.

"This Monday," he replied and then shifted. "I don't remember if I told you this or not, but…I mean, you should know this…"

"What?" I said when he didn't finish whatever he was trying to say.

He looked in my eyes. "You do know that it's in Los Angeles, right? You know, 'cause that's where all of those red carpet things are, I guess."

"Oh," I said, for it was the only response I could form. "I didn't even think of that. When are we leaving?"

"Sunday afternoon."

"Hmm…" I thought about that. "How long will we be there?"

Edward appeared to sift through all the details that were important about the event until he remembered the right information. "I believe sometime on Tuesday."

I took in this new element for a moment. "What am I going to do about Lily? I can't just drop her off at Charlie's for a couple of days and then randomly disappear. He's going to wonder," I stated.

Scratching his head, Edward said, "Well, first of all, you can take Lily with you. And second, why doesn't Charlie know about us yet? We've been together for a little while," he pointed out. "Don't you think I should meet him soon?"

I shook my head, in response and to clear it. "No," I told him. "Not just yet. My dad and I…We were never that close. We're finally getting a little better. I don't want him to think I'm being irresponsible again."

The look on Edward's face made me think his opinion was the complete opposite of mine in that respect but he didn't question my decision. "All right, but you can still take Lily."

I fired off another question. "What will I do at the premiere? If I take her with me, people will think things."

"What things?" Edward wondered.

"Like you're her father type things," I said. "There will be all kinds of rumors and I think that's the last thing you need. I'll look in one of those dumb tabloids and see that America wants their favorite author to take a paternity test. And I know you're not Lil's dad!"

"Whoa, Bella. Easy, easy," he tried to calm me, a smile daring to show on his face. "If you take Lily—and I do think you should—you can't just leave her in a hotel room. But if you don't want the rumor mill to start, I'm sure Alice would keep an eye on her while you're stuck with me, talking to reporters."

"So Alice and Jasper would have her?" I clarified.

"Yes," he affirmed. "They can have her when we're doing all of that but once we're in the theater, she's all yours. How's that sound?"

"Good," I said. "Hey, sorry to start a new topic, but Alice was wondering: Is Emmett coming?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I think he said he had to work that day. But my parents are coming. So just because I can't meet yours, doesn't mean I'm going to let you get off the hook with mine." That smile, the one that really wanted to show its face earlier, finally made its grand entrance. "But let me tell you, they can be dangerous."

I put on a grin of my own. "I think I can handle them," I said, even though my insides were now jumbled. "I bet your mom is really proud of you." I was remembering him telling me that the idea for the first book came from a dream his mom had.

"She is," he said. "She can't wait to see how the whole thing will transfer onto screen. She will riot, she says, if it doesn't turn out the way she wants it to." He laughed. "She's my biggest fan."

"Don't tell Alice that," I advised. "She thinks she is."

"Of course she does. Her and those strange, screaming teenagers." He shuddered. "I don't understand them."

_I do_, I wanted to say. _It's because you're beautiful._ Since I couldn't outright tell him that, I said, "You're an amazing writer. Why wouldn't they be screaming for you?"

"I don't know," he said. "It's just so unexpected. I'm not saying it's such a bad thing. I just don't get it at all."

I rubbed his shoulder. "I guess when fame pops up, it's just overpowering. That's something that I don't understand. I've never had to experience it, thank God."

"Oh, yeah," Edward agreed. "You would hate it so much. Fame ruins you. You better not get a big head when we go to L.A. Promise you won't get a massive ego."

I chuckled at his serious expression. "I promise that I won't get a massive ego when we get to California."

"Uh-uh. Not good enough. I want a pinky promise."

"Ugh. You have got to be kidding me right now." But one look at his face told me I was wrong. "Okay," I sighed. I held out my right pinky and interlocked it with his left one. "All right. Edward, I promise you—pinky promise you—that I will not get a massive ego come Sunday."

"Good," he said, sounding relieved. "You don't know how many people go off to Hollywood and get all…uppity."

"Uppity?"

"Yes, uppity. They become snobs and jerks and think they're better than everyone else. It's disgusting," he said. "Don't let those people get to you."

Part of me didn't want to believe him but a much greater part knew that he was right. "All right, I won't," I promised.

"I can't imagine it happening to you though," Edward told me. "You're just not like that at all. It can't happen to you. Even if you ever did get famous. And you're gorgeous enough that you could."

"Oh, please," I said, giving his arm a playful slap. "You obviously do not know what you are talking about."

He smiled but his voice didn't match his expression. "Bella, you have no idea how serious I am. If there are people from a modeling agency or something anywhere close to you, I am taking you away and locking you in your hotel room. I don't want them to take you away from me. Ever," he added as an afterthought.

"I won't let them then," I reassured him with a grin. "Plus, they're probably all weird if they're coming to me for modeling stuff. If it was Rosalie, or even Alice, I would understand. But I'm nothing special."

Edward gathered my hands in his. "Have you ever looked at yourself, Bella?" he said. "'Cause if you had, you would know that you are much more beautiful than Rosalie. You shouldn't even compare yourself to her."

While a blush crept onto my face, a loud laugh came from my mouth. "You're either a really good liar, or you're blind," I replied. "Which one is it?"

"Well," he pondered. "I'm not _that_ good of a liar. And since I can see the beauty that is in front of me, I don't think I'm blind. So…" He thought a little more. "I have decided that I am going to pick neither."

"I don't remember 'neither' being an option."

Edward wasn't deterred. "I just made it an option."

I let out yet another giggle. I had never giggled and laughed that much until I met Edward. He brought out a different side of me. When I was with James, I was only ever depressed. "Sorry to tell you," I said. "But you can't just make your own options. I put two choices out there and you picked neither. So come on, buddy. Make a choice and it better be good."

Taking his hands away from mine and crossing his arms across his chest, Edward stood his ground. "I gave you my answer and will not give you another one."

"Okay," I resigned. "What do you want to do then?" We hadn't exactly planned what our evening would entail but sometimes, surprise is a magical element.

The way Edward was looking at me told me that he was thinking of doing something that he wouldn't dare say. "What movies do you have?" he asked instead.

I shrugged. "They're all sitting over there," I said, pointing at the entertainment stand that held my television. "You can pick whatever."

He got up from the couch and very intently looked at all of the movies that I owned. He picked up one and glanced over his shoulder at me. "Why do you have a Red Hot Chili Peppers' video collection?"

I stood and walked up behind him, wanting to see what he was talking about. "Oh," I said when I saw the CD/DVD combo. "I got that as a Christmas present a few years ago. And because John Frusciante is a god on the guitar."

"Bella, the drummer looks like Will Farrell," he said with a strange look on his face.

"And your point is…" I waited for him to continue.

"My point is the guy looks like Will Farrell," responded Edward.

"Like Will Farrell is bad," I said. I sifted through the other DVDs. "Aha! Here." I handed him a case. " Will is in this. That movie is life changing, Edward. Life changing."

"Bella," he sighed. "'Zoolander' is about a dumb male model."

"Not just any male model," I began to correct. "But a male model who wants to open up a center for kids who can't read good and want to learn to do other stuff good, too."

All Edward did was shake his head.

x-X-x

A few hours had passed and we had watched numerous films. I was even able to get some Peppers' videos in, though Edward did have a ball making fun of the lead singer, Anthony Kiedis, and his ever-changing hair colors. To my utter shock, Lily had stayed in her room like a good, little girl and didn't bother the grown-ups.

"I sure hope Alice won't mind taking Lily with her," I voiced my concern. "When she's with Jasper, I don't know how much I trust her to make good decisions."

"It will be fine," Edward said, kissing my forehead. He looked at his watch. "I better get going. You still have to pick out a dress, right?"

"Nope," I told him. "I have that all taken care of. I did that the day after you invited me. Alice was gone that day."

"Sneaky, sneaky." He heaved a sigh. "I have to pack and everything for the big trip. I can't believe it's only in two days that we leave."

"I know. Are you afraid that it's going to be crap compared to the books?" I knew for a fact that Alice and I were worried about that.

"Eh, not really. You can't expect it to be exactly the same. But I don't think the books are that great either," he said. "I've read much better books."

"At least you're not so narcissistic," I replied. "I have to say that would be a deal breaker."

Smirking crookedly at me, he said, "Yes, that would be a very bad thing, wouldn't it?" He dipped his head down to my level for a second and kissed me. "I really should get going." In a flash, he was at the door. "Bye, Bella."

"I'll see you soon, Edward," I responded and waved.

"Tell Lily that I think she's going to love California," he said. "But both of you should be weary of flashing lights. Cameras, paparazzi, and all that horrible stuff. I'm sure Alice will love it."

"Yes, she will," I agreed. "I, on the other hand, will want to kill people so you should be careful when you're around me."

"I'll be sure to watch out," he said, laughing. "It's going to be great. I know it." He waved as he walked out of the door.

Watching him leave, I braced myself for the panic attack that was bound to come. What was I, Isabella Swan, the girl who had only ever been a small town girl, going to do among Hollywood's elite?

**I hope that it was kind of good, at least. Meeting the Cullens is next for Bella. The premiere may or may not be in the next chapter. I'm not sure when my next update will be because I will either be very inspired this week or too excited to type. We'll see how it turns out. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm still prepping to see a sixty-year old donkey perform. Oh, and one more thing, I will love you forever if you review. :)**


	8. Act Naturally

**A/N: Reviews, favorites, subscriptions, and etc. make my day, especially since it's been a bad week. A couple of people on this site know what I'm talking about… Now, let's see how this chapter goes, shall we? :)**

**Disclaimer: If it's recognizable, it most likely doesn't belong to me. This includes, but is not limited to, Twilight and the song, "Dani California". However, if it's those Red Hot Chili Peppers' t-shirts sitting on my floor or the CD, **_**Mojo**_**—which is an album that every single person in the world needs to get-then that, darlin', is indeed mine.**

It was pink, satin, and right above my knees.

I had been looking in the mirror at myself. I felt vain and conceited merely doing that. Just the idea of staring at yourself as a reflection made me shudder. This was what the people in Hollywood did everyday, seemingly as a hobby.

All in all, I was satisfied with my choice of outfit. I did, however, refuse to put the heels on at that moment. I thought it would be best not to push my luck the day before I had to leave.

"You look pretty, Mommy," Lily whispered in awe.

I turned around suddenly, surprised to see her behind me. I hadn't known that she had come into my room. Her eyes were glowing as a warm smile stretched across her face. I gazed at her and said, "Really? You think so?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Really, really pretty. What are you wearing it for?"

I had waited to tell her that we were going to California. I knew I was procrastinating but I just didn't know how to tell her that we were going to be very far away from home. If I didn't tell her now, neither one of us would be going. "Hey, honey. You ever wonder where movies and stuff like that are made?"

Another nod was her response. "Yep. Like those Barbie movies, right?"

"Uh, yeah," I said. "Just like the Barbie movies. Anyway, well, we're kind of going to be going there tomorrow. To see a movie before it actually comes out."

Her eyes lit up like I had never seen before. "We are?"

"Yes. I mean, we're not going to see a Barbie movie but we're going with Edward to a premiere in Hollywood. Alice and her friend, Jasper, are going to be there, too."

"Ooh," she said, all excited. "Can't wait." She had no further questions apparently, for she ran off down the hall, into her room, I suspected.

"That went well," I murmured to myself in surprise. I went back to making sure the dress had no issues. "It's good enough," I said after looking for a moment more.

My ever so annoying telephone rang right after I had slipped the dress off and put my normal clothes on. I ran into the kitchen and picked it up. "Hello?" I said. No one replied at first so I asked again. "Hello?"

"Isabella Swan?" the woman on the other end asked.

"Yes?" I said curiously. "That's me. Who is this?" It wasn't a voice that I was able to recognize. It was lyrical and soft.

"I told you I had the right number," she grumbled in response to someone who must have been in the same room as her.

I still hadn't gotten a name. "Um, excuse me? Who is this?" I asked again.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I'm sorry. You must excuse me. My husband was just… It's nothing. My name is Esme Cullen," she finally got around to saying.

I gasped under my breath at the name. _Cullen_. "Uh, yes?" I squeaked out.

"I don't mean to bombard you or anything," she said. "If it's a bad time, I'll call you again later…"

"No," I assured and interrupted at the same time. "It's fine. Now's all right."

"Well, good," she sighed. "Now, I'm sure that you don't know me but I believe that you know my son, Edward, very well."

I felt uncomfortable. This lady knew me and I knew next to nothing about her. "Yeah. I…Um, yeah, you could say that I know Edward. And you can call me Bella."

Esme laughed but it didn't sound like a regular laugh. Much like her voice, it was musical. "I've heard a lot about you, dear. Every time my son visits, he can't help but speak about you. I feel like I know you already."

Edward talks about me, I thought, to his mom? "I've heard some about you, too," I told her. "He said that you're the reason he started writing the books, right?"

A smile could be heard in her voice. "Yes," she said. "But Edward, he gives me far too much credit. All I did was have a dream about a gorgeous vampire. Edward did all the work. But I'm not calling you to talk about me. I want to talk about tomorrow."

"Right," I said. "We're going to Hollywood," I feigned excitement. I wanted to go. I was just worried about the snobs that would be there.

Judging by Edward's mother's next laugh, I had a feeling she didn't believe me. "I'm sure you're ecstatic," she replied, giggling. "Don't worry; you're not alone. I don't think that the movie will be my cup of tea, if you know what I mean. I'm not confident in the director's job. I think Edward should have had a lot more input but he doesn't agree."

"My friend feels the same way," I said. "I'm just hoping for the best. And if it's absolutely awful, we go after said director."

"I think I'm going to like you, Bella. I have a feeling we are going to get along greatly." She sighed. "I really can't wait to meet you. And your daughter also," she added at the end. "Lily, is it?"

_Shoot!_ I internally shouted. I took a while coming up with a response because I was trying to figure out why Edward would tell her that. Did he want her to think something terrible of me? "Yeah," I hesitantly said. "Her name is Lily."

"I'm sorry," Esme apologized again. "If it's a bad subject, then I won't bring it up."

I needed to tell her that the last thing Lily could ever be was a bad subject. She was possibly the best thing about my life. "No, no. We can talk about her," I cleared it up. "Is there anything you want to know about her?"

"Nothing that I won't learn tomorrow, I'm sure," she responded. There was a moment where no words were spoken until Esme got loud. "Carlisle," she nearly shouted. "I will be off the phone in a minute. Hold your horses."

"Um, Mrs. Cullen?" I asked.

"Oh, honey, please call me Esme," she said, all sweet again.

"Okay," I said slowly. "Are you sure this isn't a bad time for you? I mean, we do have tomorrow to talk, like you said. 'Cause trust me, I don't think I'm going to be hiding from you."

Another laugh sounded. "Well, I sure hope not. But you're right. Now's not such a good time. I have to get going. My husband is very impatient right now. It was lovely talking to you though, Bella."

"Nice talking to you, too, Esme," I said her name with ease. "I can't wait to meet you tomorrow."

"And I can't wait to meet the girl that my son is crazy about," Esme replied. "I will see you soon, Bella. Good-bye."

"Bye, Esme. I'll see you." I hung up the phone feeling a little more confident. So far, Edward's mom didn't hate me. That had to be a good thing. It wasn't often when my boyfriends' moms laughed at the things I said. It wasn't often when I met their moms. Even worse, it wasn't often when I had a boyfriend. But I was off to a good start so that was reason enough to have a mini-celebration.

Back in my room, I put my iHome on full blast. It was randomly playing on shuffle so I had no idea what was going to play, but I was going to dance to it.

Getting born in the state of Mississippi. Papa was a copper and her mama was a hippie. She's a runner, rebel, and a stunner. On her merry way, saying, "Baby, what you gonna?" A little loaded, she was stealing another breath…

A good four minutes later, that song ended and another started up. All the while, I privately showcased my variations of happy dances.

_Somewhere, somebody must have kicked you around some. Who knows, maybe you were kidnapped, taken away, and held for ransom? Honey, it don't make no difference to me. Everyone has to fight to be free…_

Just a few more songs later, I was through but thoroughly excited. That is until I saw one person spying on me from my doorway. "Lily!" I screamed. "What are you doing? How long have you been there?"

My daughter just shook her head at me and grinned. Then she walked over to me and wrapped her small arms around my leg. "I love you, Mommy."

"So you were there a long time?" I asked, closing my eyes. But she didn't answer. Lil just ran back out of my room, leaving me speechless. "She was there the entire time," I said to myself after a couple minutes had passed. "Oh, well…"

**x-X-x**

"I'm impressed," Alice was saying to me. "You didn't do an awful job."

On my bed was the pink dress that I had already bought. I was shocked that Alice was actually—well, somewhat—praising what I had picked out. She was usually a lot more offensive.

"Well, I had to get something decent," I said. "I knew you were going to see it. The last thing I wanted was to get my butt kicked. I don't really mind my butt."

Alice smiled. "Decent, it is. But just so you know, I stayed within the terms of agreement and bought Lily a dress for the premiere."

"Um…What did you just say?" I asked. I didn't believe that it was in our "terms of agreement" at all. All clothing was my decision.

Now a little afraid, Alice began backing away from me. "If you remember correctly," she began. "I was told that I was not allowed to have any influence on _your_ outfit. Not one thing was said about Lil's."

I was flabbergasted. "I guess I just assumed that she was off-limits!"

"Then you should have made that a little more clearer." She shrugged. "It's not my fault."

Knowing I wasn't going to get anywhere, I sighed. "Fine. Show me the dress before I tear yours to shreds."

With a long gasp, Alice put her hand to her mouth. When she took it away, she glared at me. "Don't even try it. And, of course I'll show you the dress. Why wouldn't I?"

All I could do was give her a baffled look. "Just get the dress," I growled.

"On it, girly." Alice ran away from me and then ran back, carrying a shopping bag. "I got it," she sang. "I got the dress. It will be perfect. Trust me," she said with a wink. "I'm a style doctor."

I rolled my eyes at her and waited patiently for her to show me the outfit. "Get on with it, Ali," I grumbled at her. "I don't have all day."

"Of course you don't, Bella. But I do." She winked at me. "Now scoot over so I can show you." She shoved me away, making more room for her. "Okay, take a look at this."

A peppermint green dress met my eyes. I looked at it from every angle. Finally, I set it down on my lap but said nothing.

"So…" an expectant Alice said. "What do you think?"

I gave her a look and let my arms go up, only to have them fall back down. "Eh, it's all right."

Alice threw her hands in the air. "Oh, you have got to be joking right now! It's so cute. Honestly, Bella, I don't know what your problem is."

I had kept my face in control and showed no emotion, but when she started yelling at me, I couldn't keep it that way. A broad smile broke out on my face and I began laughing. "Alice," I eventually said. "It's perfect. You should know that. You said it yourself. You're the style doctor," I used her words.

With her arms across her chest, Alice let out a "Humph." She tapped her foot on the floor, showing her irritation. "Well, just because I _know_ it doesn't mean I don't like to _hear_ it. I do like flattery."

I nodded. "I get it. What do you want me to do? Bow down to you and kiss your feet?" I snickered.

"That would be nice."

My eyes flashed up to Alice's. "If you seriously think I'm doing that, then you are in need of some help." I got up from the couch and walked away from her. "Oh, and you might want to show the dress to Lil. Make sure she likes it. She's the one that matters."

"Will do, Bells." Alice was immediately in a better mood as she walked to Lily's room. Compliments must do that to a person.

I wanted to rest, if only for a little while, but luck was not on my side. My annoying phone took an opportunity to ring uncontrollably. When I made my way over there, I answered it. "Hello?" I said, grumpier than I had intended.

"You okay?"

It was only Edward's velvet voice but I was instantly happy again. "Yeah," I breathed. "I'm good. A little tired, but good."

He chuckled and I realized that he got his laugh from his mom. "I'm sorry that you're tired. You better get your rest for tomorrow. We're leaving bright and early."

I groaned. "Bright and early? How bright? How early?"

When Edward spoke, he sounded unsure. "I want to say six but I don't know."

"Well, at least you're an honest man. It's hard to get one of those nowadays. A rarity."

"I just do what my mama told me to," he said while laughing.

That reminded me… "Your mom called me today," I informed him. "Just figured I'd tell you."

"She did, did she?" He didn't sound surprised. Maybe she called all of his girlfriends before actually meeting them. "What did she have to say?"

"Nothing much. Just that she was excited to meet me tomorrow."

"You should know," Edward said in a warning tone, "that my mother planned the whole thing out. I think she even knows exactly what she's going to ask you, right down the tiny details."

"That's…interesting," I stated. "What did she do that for?"

"I don't really know for sure," he answered. "Everything has to be very specific for her. I don't think she was like that, though, until she met my dad. He's the same way."

"He doesn't seem much like the waiting kind," I replied.

"Oh, God," Edward moaned. "Please tell me you didn't have to talk to him."

"No," I assured. "But he was in the background and your mom was getting very vocal. She wasn't mean or anything. She just wasn't very pleased. More agitated."

"They weren't having a major argument or anything, were they?" he asked. "'Cause if they were over the phone, who knows what they'll do when we're having dinner with them!"

I chuckled. "Calm. It wasn't anything big. They had to go somewhere, I think, and your mom was taking too long."

"Thank goodness. I was afraid I was going to have to hurt him for scaring my girlfriend. Honestly, if you leave me because of dinner tomorrow, I won't blame you at all. They're horrifying." I heard him shudder.

"Well, I'm not running yet," I told him. "I'm going out of state with you after all."

I could hear the smile in his voice. "That you are. Anyway, I better get off the pho—"

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Lily was screaming from down the hall.

Turning around, I saw Lily, a small vision in green, flaunting her new dress. "Do you like it?" I asked, momentarily forgetting that Edward was still on the phone.

She nodded excitedly in response. "I feel like a pwincess, Mommy," she informed.

"It's princess," an equally happy Alice corrected. "It has an 'r' in it, honey."

I waved my hand at Alice. "Don't spoil her moment," I ordered before looking back at Lil. "Feeling like one is usually different than being one, but, sweetie, you are most definitely a princess."

I don't think Lily heard me, considering she was distracted, spinning and twirling around. It was evident that she was in love with the dress.

On the phone, Edward coughed, trying to get my attention. When he knew he had it, he said, "I'm glad that Lily's ready for tomorrow. I just hope you are prepared."

"Oh, I like to think that I am." I didn't tell him but I was more leaning on the fact that I was most definitely not ready at all. However, I did not want to let him in on that. Edward would probably think that I shouldn't think too much of it.

"All right then," he said. "I don't know how prepped I am so I better get going. It's going to be one interesting day. I'll see you at… I said six before, right?"

"Yeah," I groaned loudly. "Too early."

"Could be worse," replied Edward. "But yep, it's six. I'll pick you up and we'll go to the airport. Have no fear though. You won't see my parents 'til the afternoon."

"Aw," I complained. "I'm looking forward to seeing your mom, at least. Your dad, I have a feeling that it's going to be different."

With a laugh, Edward said that he had to go so I put the phone down and went over to Lily. "Is this dress you or what?" I asked, watching her as she continued to twirl.

She didn't say anything but Alice did. "Why are you surprised? I did pick it after all."

**x-X-x**

Mornings for me were never usually super busy. But it was five-thirty and I was running around the apartment. "Where is my wallet?" I moaned, looking through my drawers.

Alice, who was standing at my door, said, "Did you even try looking in your purse?"

"Don't get smart with me," I snapped.

"Easy, Swan," Jasper said from behind Alice. He looked like he didn't want to come any closer. "You still have half an hour. I'm sure you'll find it."

Though I couldn't explain why or how it happened, after Jasper spoke, I felt a calmness coming over me. "You're right," I said. "I'll find it soon."

Alice turned to her boyfriend. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?" an innocent looking Jasper wondered.

I watched as the two of them walked down the hall, all smiles and giggles. Then, within minutes, my wallet was found, hiding underneath my suitcase. "Oh, thank God," I whispered.

Right at six o'clock, a knock was heard at the door. "Ali," I called from my room. "Will you get the door?"

"I'm busy," she replied. "Jazz, you go do it."

"Doin' it." The door opened and Jasper said, "Hey, Edward. How've ya been?"

"Tired. Very, very tired," Edward answered. "You?"

I was walking out of my room before Jasper could answer and was there just in time to see Lily fly out of her room.

"Edward!"

The next thing I saw was Lil crashing into Edward's leg. "Oof," he grunted when contact was made.

I ran over to him, noticing that my daughter was still latched onto his leg, completely unaffected. "Wow," I said to Edward. "She must like you."

He laughed and looked down. "That's a good thing, I guess."

I nodded in agreement and soon we were on our way to the airport, where I realized I was pretty much terrified to get on the plane. Lily, on the other hand, was not so I tried to stay calm for her.

The plane ride wasn't awful, not scary, but when we landed and reached the ground, I had never felt so relieved in my life. "Can we just go to the hotel now?" I asked Edward when we got our luggage.

"If you want to," he answered. "I figured you wouldn't feel like exploring today anyway."

Lily pouted. "But I do," she cried.

"Jazz and I will take you, Lil," Alice offered. "We wanted to see what L.A. was all about."

"As long as you guys are back five tonight," Edward said. "My parents plan on meeting all of you."

"You sure they want to meet Alice?" I asked, earning a nudge in the ribs from my subject. "Ow. I was just joking."

For the most part at the hotel, I was left alone. Since Lily, Alice, and Jasper were gone and Edward was stuck doing interviews for the upcoming release, I just sat around, watching old reruns of "Rock of Love with Bret Michaels" on Vh1 and listening to music. If Alice were there, she would have thought that I was being boring but I was just relaxing. And regrouping from the plane ride. If I wanted to have a decent dinner with Edward's parents, I didn't need to still be afraid of a trip that already happened.

Before I knew it, five o'clock was approaching and no one was back yet so I was getting worried. It was Edward, after all, who told Alice that she needed to be back at a certain time. I dialed their phone numbers but not one of them answered. "Pick up, pick up, pick up," I muttered each time they let their phones ring.

It took a long while but finally, I got an answer from Jasper. "Bella?" he asked, confused. "What do you want? Is something wrong?"

"Well, yeah, kinda," I said. "Where are you? We're supposed to be having dinner with Edward's parents in…" I looked at my watch. "Twenty minutes."

"Oh. Uh…Hold on one second." He must have needed to tell Alice but it didn't take long because he was back with me in no time. "We'll be back as soon as possible. Is Edward there?"

"No," I moaned. "I can't get a hold of him. I have no clue where he is."

"He'll be back soon, I'm sure," said Jasper before hanging up.

I was now doing my best to hold myself together.

Though it didn't take long, it did seem like a lifetime until I heard the door open, revealing Lily, Alice, and Jasper.

"He's still not here?" Alice wondered when she saw my face.

I shook my head. "And he's not answering his phone."

"Bells, don't worry. I'm sure he'll be here very, very soon," she comforted.

"I can't not worry, Ali," I told her. "This has to be perfect. I am meeting his parents." Edward was once worried that Alice was going to take away his manhood but he had no idea what was in store for him if he didn't make it there on time.

With the rest of us dressed up and ready to go to dinner and with seconds to spare, the door creaked open. Edward's head poked in. "Hey, guys," he said. "You ready to go?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Where exactly have you been? We have to leave very soon, I don't know where we supposed to go, and here you are, all…all…I don't know. All something. Where were you?"

Edward sighed. "I was stuck doing interviews. I'm sorry, honestly. I wanted to call but I couldn't. Can we just go have dinner now? I don't really want to stand here and fight with you."

I had planned on putting my foot down. I really shouldn't have been letting him get the best of me. But, being a human, our brains don't talk as much as our hearts. "All right," I allowed. "Let's do dinner with your folks."

Dinner was at some swanky place that Mr. and Mrs. Cullen picked out. When we arrived, Edward immediately steered us toward the table he knew they'd be at.

Sitting at the table were two incredibly beautiful adults. The woman had a sweet smile planted upon her face that was outlined by caramel hair. Though I would never dare ask her age, she looked as if she wasn't even forty.

Beside her, a blonde man, who also looked quite young, was paying little attention to the scene around him. Instead, he was gazing at his wife, a loving expression brightening up his features.

It felt rude to be looking at them, but since Edward dragged us over there, we sort of had to. "Mom, Dad," Edward eventually said. "You want us to just get our own table?"

"Oh," a surprised Esme exclaimed softly. "I didn't even know you guys were there."

"Obviously," muttered Edward, pulling a chair out for me before taking a seat of his own.

"So," Carlisle began, looking at me. "This is the Bella we've been hearing so much about."

"Yep," I said. "Quite lackluster, I know."

Carlisle laughed. "Don't sell yourself so short. I don't know you yet. Wait until I talk to you for me to decide how bland you may be."

"I hope you're ready for disappointment."

Conversation while we ate was scarce. The elder Cullens didn't like to talk much when eating so the rest of us, except for Lily who on occasion would blurt out random things, kept silent.

When the meal was over, the grilling took place.

"Bella," Esme said. "I want to hear your side. How did you and Edward meet?"

I launched into the story of the morning I met Edward at my work. However, I didn't mention how I originally had brushed him off, not really wanting to date him. "It was just fate," I tagged on, ending my tale.

"Are you a believer in that sort of thing?" Carlisle asked me. "Do you also think you were meant to have a child at such a young age?"

All eyes, minus Lily's—she was in her own world—were on me.

My cool was not going to be lost, for I was determined to stand my ground. Everyone gets caught off guard sometimes. "I think that everything happens for a reason," I stated. "Lily might not have been planned but she is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. You can't change the past. You can only hope that the future is possessing better days."

Nodding, Carlisle said, "See? You're not lacking any luster at all. I like it."

The rest of the topics we spoke about were much lighter. The strangest being when Alice swore that she saw Rihanna walking into the restaurant.

"Guys," she said. "I'm telling you, I saw her. Oh! I love her so much. That 'Umbrella' song is genius."

"I wouldn't call it genius," I replied. "Now, 'Lay, Lady, Lay' was genius."

"That song by Bob Dylan?" she asked. "It's okay but it's so old."

"That might be what makes it so great," I said. "You can't sit and say that a guy in the Hall of Fame is not as good as some pop princess."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Carlisle lean over to Edward. "You got yourself a good one," he whispered.

"Yeah," Esme agreed. "She really is great."

Edward smiled back at them both. "I know."

At that moment, I knew one thing: No matter how messed up I sometimes could be, it appeared that Edward's parents had taken a liking to me.

**Whether or not I was inspired for this chapter didn't matter. I was actually more angry than anything. I recall being on Twitter though. I just wanted to get you guys this chapter…But I won't be upset anymore if you leave me a review. Even if it's telling me how awful this chapter was. Believe me when I tell you, I really wouldn't care. :)**


	9. Face In The Crowd

**A/N: Reviews, subscriptions, favorites are loved by me, as I've said before. Someone seriously needs to take away my iPod. It's both upsetting and inspiring me. But don't worry about that. Oh, and I've posted the ladies' dresses for this chapter. All you got to do is go to my profile. Now, just read, review, and enjoy. :)**

**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's probably not owned by me. **

* * *

_**"Before all of this ever went down,**_

_**In another place, another town,**_

_**You were just a face in the crowd.**_

_**Out of a dream, into the sky,**_

_**Into my heart, into my life,**_

_**You were just a face in the crowd…"**_

_Face In the Crowd _by Tom Petty

* * *

"You did wonderful," Edward complimented me as we went back to the hotel. "My parents love you already, I can tell."

"Maybe they were just being nice," I said. "They could have been trying to just let me down easy. That's possible."

Alice slapped my arm. "Will you quit doubting yourself? You are a smart, beautiful, funny, charismatic, loving, interesting, young lady. How can someone not like you?"

"They meet you," I muttered and heard Edward and even Jasper laugh.

"Miss Bella," Alice said in a warning tone. "You better watch what you say to me 'cause you know that I will single-handedly dismantle you. Got that?"

"Got it," I mumbled in response. Louder, I said, "Honestly, Edward, your parents are so sweet. And still in love. Did you see the way they were looking at each other when we came in?"

Edward shuddered loudly and visibly. "Please, please don't remind me."

"But it was adorable," I protested. "There was such a love in their eyes."

Jasper chuckled. "Yeah. You know what they were going to do after dinner."

"Jazz!" Alice chastised.

"What were they gonna do?" Lily asked. She was staring right up at Jasper, curious to see what he would say.

But she wasn't the only one awaiting his answer. All eyes were on him as he struggled to respond. He looked around for us to give him some help but he wasn't getting any. "Um…Well, you see, Lil…Yeah, uh…They were just going to watch some…cooking shows. Yeah."

"Okay," Lily said, satisfied. No more of an explanation was needed for her.

The adults, however, wanted the said explanation and were not going to rest until they heard it.

Edward, an evil grin planted on his face, looked intently at Jasper. "So, uh, what kind of cooking shows will they be watching?"

Jasper stared, wide-eyed at him. "Well, um, you know…the ones where the people…cook."

Even Alice was into putting her boyfriend on the hot seat. "Jazz, I hate to tell you this but every cooking show has people cooking. Maybe you didn't pick that up or…"

"Oh, will you guys quit it?" Jasper pleaded.

"Okay," I conceded. "But only until we get back to the hotel."

At the hotel, we decided to let Jasper off the hook because we had no jokes to mock him with. Edward, Lily, and I parted ways with Alice and her guy at our doors.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Alice said excitedly. "Ooh, you know I just can't wait. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the director doesn't have to feel the wrath of Alice Brandon."

"No one wants that," I told her before she disappeared into her room. I turned back to Edward, who was opening our door. "You think your parents really do like me?" I asked.

His eyes lit up as he said, "Believe me, Bella. They liked you. My mom even wants to get to know you even better. I think she's planning all sorts of lunches for the two of you for when we get back to Washington. She's crazy."

Our door was open and Edward motioned for Lily and me to go in. Lil was looking tired so I got her ready for bed and put her into the crib that had been assembled earlier in the day. "Good night, princess," I told her, even though she conked out the moment her head hit the pillow.

Edward was sitting on an ugly patterned couch in front of the television. He had already changed out of his clothes from dinner and was wearing a pair of shorts and nothing else. He might not have been looking at me but I was definitely looking at him.

Before he could realize that I was gawking, I brought myself out of my ogling. "What are you watching?" I wondered, trying to distract myself.

He shrugged. "It looks like 'King Of the Hill' is on," he answered. "Want to watch."

"Just let me change," I told him and walked into the bedroom.

My suitcase was lying on the floor so I picked it up, threw it on the bed, and tore through it, looking for my nightclothes. Shorts and a t-shirt with holes were going to have to work. I put the clothes on, then came to a sudden realization.

I was close to running back to where Edward was. "Hey," I whispered, not wanting to wake Lily. "Have you looked at the whole room thing?"

Edward, not taking his eyes off the TV, said, "Um, yeah. What's wrong with it?"

_What's wrong with it? _I internally shouted. I just had to get to the point if he didn't comprehend. "Did you happen to notice that there is only one bed?"

"Oh," he said like it was nothing. "Yeah, I guess so. Why?"

He still wasn't catching what I was throwing at him. I had to spell it out for him. "There's one bed and there's two of us. Does that mean we'll be sharing a bed?"

Now, his eyes were locking with mine. His face was puzzled. "That's how it would seem, Bella. Is that a problem?"

"Well…"

He chuckled at me. "All right. If you don't want to share a bed, that's perfectly fine. I'll take the couch." He shrugged, showing it was no big deal.

But to me, it was a big deal. "No, no, no," I said. "I'll take the couch. You have the bed."

Standing up from the sofa, he began walking toward me. "Bella, I will not have you sleeping on a couch. That would be very wrong of me."

My hands on my hip, I stared at him. "But, Edward, it's fi—"

"I said that you will not sleep on the couch. So stop trying to say it's fine," he said. "I have slept on a couch before. Doing it once more is not going to kill me."

The way he was looking at me—and the fact that he was shirtless—made my resolve weaken. "Oh, fine," I caved while mentally reprimanding myself for being such a softy. "Sleep on the couch. But don't come complaining to me when you're uncomfortable."

Edward got real close, giving me a good view of his smoldering eyes. "And don't come crying to me when you're upset 'cause you don't have my arms around you when you're sleeping." He then gave me a quick, chaste kiss and went back to the couch. "Well, come on," he said. "Let's watch some animated Texans."

**x-X-x**

When I woke up the next morning, my gut was telling me that it was going to be a hectic day. My nose, however, told me it was going to be a tasty day. I got a whiff of something that smelled positively delicious so I followed it to the kitchen.

Edward was there, staring intently at some bacon in the skillet. He must have heard me approach because he turned around suddenly. "Breakfast?" he asked.

My smile was wide and bright as I said, "Yes, please," and sat at the little table.

A moment later, Edward, who still was lacking a shirt, sat a round plate in front of me. "  
Bacon and eggs," he said. "If you want anything else, just let me know." He smiled and returned back to the stove.

The food sitting in front of me appeared good but looks can be deceiving. The only way I would know for sure that it was edible was to take a bite. Or ten thousand. As soon as I ate one piece of the eggs, I knew that I shouldn't have doubted Edward's cooking ability. Everything on the plate was fantastic. "You write amazing books, are a perfect gentleman," I listed when I finished eating, "and you cook really well, too. What can't you do?"

Taking a seat right across from me, Edward thought over my question. "What can't I do?" he asked himself. He snapped his fingers. "Got it," he said. "I can not knit to save my life."

I chuckled at him. "And what would you need to knit for?"

"Well, you see, my grandmother on my mom's side always wanted a granddaughter, but since I'm an only child, she never got one," he explained. "So she used to complain that there would never be another girl in the Platt family to carry on how great of a knitter she was." He shook his head, while laughing. "She always made me feel guilty about being born a boy. Grandmas are really strange."

"Well, _your_ grandmother is," I told him.

"Don't insult my grandma," Edward said. "Just because I did that doesn't mean you can." At first, I thought he was seriously upset with me but then I saw him smirk at me and knew that he was just kidding.

I changed the subject. "I am going to be so awful at the premiere," I said, worry lacing my voice. "The moment one question is fired at me, I'm going to put my foot in my mouth."

Edward shook his head. "Alice was right," he mumbled. "You do doubt yourself too much. You're going to be perfectly fine. And when you can't think of anything to say, just laugh, look at me, and I'll answer the question for you while looking at the beautiful blush on your cheeks."

As if the aforesaid blush had a mind of its own, it showed its face, much to my chagrin. "All of those reporters and stuff are going to think I'm such an oaf. I'll probably fall in my heels right in front of them." I stared down at the table.

"Hey, hey," Edward said, putting his hand under my chin to see my face again. "Why are you being such a downer right now? All those reporters are going to see is that I am probably the luckiest guy in the world to have you on my arm. It's going to be perfect."

It was a small assurance but a big one all at the same time. I found it amazing that just a few words could leave such an impact. I was instantly calm, something Edward seemed to be at all times. "What are we going to do today then?" I asked, not wanting to think about my initial unease. "Or are you doing author things?"

"No, I'm not doing 'author things,' whatever that is." He rolled his eyes and shrugged. "I don't care. What are you interested in doing? Going to Melrose and shopping? Hanging out in Malibu with the elite?"

I leaned back in my chair. "See, that sounds like something Alice would want to do, not me. I would so much rather just sit around here, doing nothing or watching shows."

"Then that's what we'll do," Edward said. "We'll watch TV. As long as it doesn't involve any cooking programs."

Just a couple hours later, Alice was pounding on the door to our room. "Open up," she called. "We've got business to take care of."

"No, _we _don't," I replied.

"Fine," sighed Alice. "But I do have to help Lily get ready. I promised her. And I refuse to break a promise."

"Then go get her," I said. "I think she's still sleeping. If you want to crush a child's dreams by waking her up, be my guest."

Alice laughed at my statement. "Oh, can it, Swan. You have no clue what you're even talking about. You know that it's every girl's dream to get to play dress up." After a small pause, she said, "Well, every girl except for you."

I nodded in agreement. "You're right on that one. But is it such a necessity that you have to get her ready right now? The premiere is not for a few hours."

A glare from Alice was the first response. The second was her speaking in a cutting tone. "You know how I work, Swan."

I did my best to glare back at her but it didn't work out too well. "I'm pretty sure I hate how you work," I mumbled.

"I heard that," she sang. "Now where is the little munchkin?"

"I told you, she's sleeping."

Recognition came to her eyes. "Oh, yeah. You did say that, didn't you? Well, I'm just going to go fetch her." She ran to the room where she knew Lily would be.

Edward looked at me. "I know I don't know her very well, but I would like to caution you that I think she's getting Alzheimer's or something."

I shook my head. "No, I don't think that's it. Wanna hear _my _theory?" I didn't really care what his answer was because I was going to tell him anyway. "You see, I think that, even though she's only eighteen, she's going into menopause. It's the early stages."

He was still looking at me, trying to keep a straight face but he soon couldn't contain himself. He began shaking with laughter. "That has to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard," he finally said.

"Just think about it," I advised him. "It all comes together, trust me."

**x-X-x**

It was getting late into the evening, around eight o'clock, and Lily looked like she was about to fall asleep again.

"Were you trying to make her look like one of those pageant babies?" Edward asked Alice when he saw Lil. "Or is that just how this turned out?"

"She so does not look like a pageant baby," Alice replied. "I just put a little blush on her. I think she looks pretty."

"This is why she keeps yawning," I said. "You woke her up to do all of this."

Alice stomped her foot. "She looks pretty though."

"She's two, for Pete's sake," Jasper added. "Why'd you have to put all that on her?"

I ran my hand through my hair. The rest of us were all ready to go to the premiere but the gook on Lily's face was bothering me. "Okay, we'll ask the person that matters." I turned to Lil. "Honey," I said. "Do you like how you look with the make-up?"

With a shake of her head as a response, she quietly said, "No."

"It's settled," I announced. "I'm washing it off." I took Lily by the hand and pulled her into the bathroom. After I propped her up on the counter next to the sink, I got a rag, put some water on it, and began scrubbing gently at her face. When I finished, I thanked my lucky stars that her face wasn't red and splotchy. "I'm sorry Aunt Alice did that, Lil," I told her. "She just thought that you would like it."

"It's okay," she whispered.

I picked her up and said, "No, it's not okay. If you didn't want that stuff on, you could've said something, you know." I saw a grin appearing on her face so I took her out of the bathroom and back to where the rest of them were. "I think she looks better this way," I told Alice when I first saw her.

She must have known what I was getting at because she came over to Lily. "Lil," she said softly. "I'm sorry I put that make-up on you. I should have asked you first. Will you forgive me?"

Lily's smile was now shining like a star. "Yes," she answered and reached out to Alice and gave her a hug.

Alice held onto her tight. "Thanks, sweetie."

The time of the premiere was creeping up on us and Edward was more nervous than I had ever seen him. He was walking around the room, drinking a lot of coffee.

"Please tell me that's decaf," Alice whispered to me when Edward was as far away as he could be.

"I don't think it is," I responded, feeling a little tense myself. "Um, Edward," I said when he came closer to us. "Are you all right?"

Stopping in his tracks, he looked at me. "Yeah, never been better," he said too quickly. He obviously knew that I knew he was lying because he shook his head and sighed. "I'm just worried that it will disappoint the fans. I don't want them to think that I let the producers and directors trash what they love so much. They're really devoted."

I nodded. "I see. Well, you're just going to have to push all of that out of your mind and just go with the flow. Don't let it get to you."

"Is Bella turning into a hippie?" Jasper asked Alice, assuming that I wouldn't hear him since he spoke with a low voice.

I made the decision to just ignore him, rather than snap at him. It wouldn't be good if I flipped out on him right before a premiere. I'd be way too worked up. "Edward," I said instead. "You're not going to be this anxious around the reporters, are you?"

"I'm gonna try not to be," he stated, still unsure.

"No," I persisted. "You are _not _going to be this anxious. If I'm not allowed to be, then you aren't either."

Before Edward could say more, a loud horn sounded outside of the building.

"Ooh!" Alice squealed. "Is that the limo? I know you must have gotten a limo! I really, really, really want to ride in a limo!"

"Yeah, that's it," Edward assured her.

"Ugh," I groaned, something I felt like I was doing a lot lately. "I'd feel so cheesy in a limo. Just…blah."

"You're never satisfied, are you?" Edward asked before going to the door. "All right, everyone. Tonight, we…do something!"

"Yeah!" we all screamed back at him. With a rebel yell, we followed the leader out the door and soon into a stretch limo, where Edward's parents were.

As "Handle With Care" by the Traveling Wilburys played on the stereo, Carlisle smiled at me. "It's good seeing you again, Bella," he said. "Do you like the choice of music? It's all guys from the '60s and '70s."

"Of course," I said back. "Harrison, Orbison, Dylan, Lynne, and Petty."

Lily's eyes lit up at the last name. "Donkey!"

Carlisle gave me a strange look but I just shook my head at him. "I'll tell you some other time," I promised.

Esme excitedly changed the subject. "So are we all ready to watch magic happen?"

"Mom…" Edward grumbled.

"Oh, hush," she said back, patting his knee. "This is a big night for you. Your father and I are so proud of you. When you first told us you were going to be a writer, well…"

"You thought I was going to fail," finished Edward with a laugh.

"_No_," his mother stressed. "We did not think that you were going to fail. We were just worried that you were making the wrong decision. We didn't realize that writers had such good income."

"I hear it's great pay," Alice chimed in.

Esme continued. "But we knew that if you weren't happy going to college and having a 'normal person's' job, then we weren't going to force you. It's a matter of going after what you love."

"And I love writing," Edward concluded. "It's the only thing I've ever wanted to do. I read a lot when I was a kid."

I laughed. "Yeah, see, I never did. Reading was totally not my thing. Now, music, _that_ was my world. I used to even play guitar."

"Really?" asked Esme. "Do you still?"

As I shook my head, I said, "No, I had to sell it. Money was needed for other things." I glanced over at Lily. "But I do wish that I could get back into it."

"Bella." It was Carlisle's voice calling me to attention. "Did Edward ever tell you that he played piano?"

I looked over at Edward, who was now fiddling with his tie. "No, he never did," I answered. "But I never really asked. Same thing with me and the guitar."

"Well, he was fantastic on it. We actually thought he was going to do that for a living."

"Really?" I asked, eyebrows raised at Edward. "I can see it now: _Edward Cullen, professional pianist. _Oh, God, that would be a trip."

"We probably would have never met," Edward mused. "So I think I made the right choice."

"You never know," I said back. "A piano player would need an agent and stuff too. So if it was meant to be, it would've happened."

It wasn't long before the car made a stop. Lily was bouncing up and down in her car seat with an enthusiasm that was left unmatched.

Edward looked over at Alice and Jasper. "You guys go with Lily first." When they nodded, he turned his attention to his parents. "Then you go and we'll follow a few minutes after that, okay?"

Carlisle said, "Yeah, we got it. But you better be careful. You're the one that all those people want. Not us."

"I'll be on my toes," Edward replied wryly, glancing at me.

I shrugged. "I'm not the important one. No one needs to worry about me."

Edward wasn't paying attention. He was too busy looking out the window. "All right, you should get going now." He hastily opened the door and said, "Go."

Quickly, Jasper and Alice, who was holding onto Lily, hopped out of the car and were bombarded with flashing lights.

"Mom, Dad," Edward said. "You guys ready?"

Esme didn't answer. She just leaned over and hugged and kissed her son. Then, she did the same to me. "We'll see you in the theater." The door opened again and Edward's parents were gone, the door shutting behind them.

"And then there were two," I murmured to myself.

"You act like that's such a bad thing," Edward said back to me. He put his hand over mine. "Everything will be fine."

"Let's just do this," I said.

Chuckling to himself, Edward flung the door open. "After you."

I stepped cautiously out of the limo, not wanting to fall on my face. The lights were blinding. The photographers were everywhere, as were the fans, screaming their heads off. "Oh, my God," I muttered upon seeing them all.

I felt Edward step up behind me. "This is going to be interesting," he said. "Don't let them phase you." He grabbed my hand and began leading me toward the press line.

Shouts of "Mr. Cullen, Mr. Cullen!" were loud and deafening.

Edward stopped in front of a woman with a microphone that read "E!" in white and red. "Mr. Cullen," she said, excitement in her tone. "Glad you could stop and talk to E!"

"It's my pleasure," he said, his voice becoming much quieter. "It's just good seeing people enjoy my works so much."

"Well, we really do," she told him, letting it be known that she was one of the fans. She looked me over. Her eyes scanned up and down my body and I felt uncomfortable right away. "And who is this, if it's all right to ask?"

A smile came to Edward's face, like this was the question he was waiting for. "This," he said, looking right at me now, "is Isabella."

"Oh…Isabella," she said, trying my name out for some reason. "A little old-fashioned, don't you think?"

I didn't know what she was trying to say. "That's probably why they just call me Bella."

"I see," she said, nodding in the way that a Hollywood prep would. I knew for a fact that she didn't care but she kept prying anyway. "You and Edward are dating, I'd assume?"

Edward stepped in for me. "My personal life, miss, is not of your concern. Understand?" He didn't wait for the poor—but annoying—girl's reply. Grabbing my arm, he towed me along with him.

Everyone asked the same thing. Some weren't as blunt, some beat around the bush. If Edward seemed to like the way the reporter asked if we were dating, he would give them the honest answer of, "Yes, that's why she's my date tonight."

"Edward," I whispered after feeling like we had talked to over a thousand people. "I came to see a movie. Not people with mikes."

"I thought you wanted to spend the evening with me," Edward replied with an adorable pout.

I laughed. "Don't get such a big head about it."

"I think there's just a few more people I need to talk to. If you want, you can go find my parents and Alice and everybody and stay with them," he offered. "Get your seats and just wait for me."

"Sorry to tell you but you're stuck with me all night," I informed.

He was right; it wasn't long before we were in the front row of the theater. Alice and Jasper were in a love cocoon and Esme and Carlisle were having a deep conversation. Edward was still worried about how the film would turn out. The only ones who weren't taking anything serious were Lily and I.

"Mommy," she said a little bit loudly. "When's the movie gonna start?"

"Shh," I tried to quiet her because stares were forming. "It's not going to be too long. They just have to show some clips of other movies. If you get tired of it, you can always just take a nap or something."

While I was talking to Lily, a hush came over the crowd. I looked up at the screen and saw the previews starting. However, I wasn't worried about that. They weren't the movie that I was there to watch, after all.

Surprisingly, the wait wasn't long for the film to start. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward shift slightly in his seat. "Nervous?" I whispered.

"Afraid," he corrected.

I asked no more on the subject and instead tried to focus on the movie. The actors were no Oscar winners but they were decent enough. No superb demonstrations of anything, really, but that was to be expected; they were young and inexperienced. Overall, the movie was a respectable piece of work.

When it ended, the crowd exploded with applause.

Edward was looking around, seemingly baffled by what he heard and saw.

"Something wrong?" his mother asked, noticing it too.

He pointed about him, at the people clapping with broad smiles on their faces. "They liked it that much?"

"It was good," Jasper told him.

Nodding, Edward said, "Right, it was good. Could it have been better? Hell, yeah. They shouldn't be this happy about it. I just got to hope that the next three can turn out a bit better. But I can't tell anyone this. I have to prepare to lie."

"What? Why do you have to lie?" I didn't understand why he couldn't just share his real opinion.

Edward sighed. "I can't just say that I think it's crap. I mean, it wasn't that bad but I've seen books tuned movies come out a lot better. More true to form. This wasn't."

"You're making it seem like it was the worst movie to ever be made," Carlisle said. "I've seen a lot worse. Trust me."

Edward put his hands up. "I don't know. Can we just hurry and get out of here? I don't want to face my fans knowing that this is what they're going to see."

"But it wasn't that bad," I protested to no avail. Edward was beginning to get up from his seat. I, along with the rest of our entourage, followed him out of the theater.

**I really hoped that you liked this chapter. School starts Monday and I'm going to hopefully see the donkey I've been raving about on Tuesday night so I don't know when the next update will be. But until then, you should totally review and tell me what you think. :)**


	10. Hometown Blues

**A/N: Thanks so much for reviews and such. I cherish them all. As usual, I am sorry that this is late. School stinks. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, on the other hand? Absolutely amazing! But enough of that. This is a little short or it seems that way to me, but whatever. I want you to read, review, and most importantly, enjoy… :)**

**Disclaimer: Twilight is not mine. The **_**Mojo **_**mug is.**

**Chapter 10: Hometown Blues**

"_Don't really matter if she don't or if she do,_

_Just tryin' to make the best of the hometown blues…"_

_Hometown Blues _by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

* * *

Since Edward was not in much of a mood to stay in L.A. for a long period of time, everyone thought that it would be a good idea to go back home as soon as possible. The only person who didn't want to go home was Lily, of course.

"But Mommy," she whined. "I wanna stay here."

"I'm sure you do," I said. "But we can't stay here. We have to go home some time."

"But I don't wanna," she griped. She also stomped her foot in an effort to make her point.

Indeed, her point was heard but I was not going to be shaken. I was going to stand my ground. "Well, I don't really care if you want to or not. It makes no difference. We're leaving tomorrow morning and that is final."

She grumbled, "Fine."

Later, with all our bags packed, ready for the next day, I was sitting, watching T.V. Unbeknownst to me, Edward was right behind me.

"Bella," he said in his velvet voice.

I jumped upon hearing him and then turned around, regaining my composure. "Yeah?"

"There's something I want to show you before we leave," he answered. He took my hand and pulled me up from the couch. "Come on." He nodded toward the door.

Of course, I followed him. I'd probably follow him no matter where he was going. "All right," I said. "I'm coming."

He was basically dragging me out the door.

"I'm shocked you don't have me by the hair," I commented. He didn't say anything. "You know, like a Neanderthal. Or maybe a caveman."

Edward glanced over at me. "I know what you mean. It's just that you're wrong."

I rolled my eyes and scoffed lightly. "Right. 'Cause this is so different than that." I quickly changed the subject. "So…where are you taking me exactly?"

Smiling, he said, "You'll see soon. There are a couple things I want you to see actually. When we get there, I'll tell you."

"I hate secrets and surprises and you know that," I accused.

"And if it's a good surprise?"

"There are none," I answered with a cold glare.

Edward instantly stopped. "Oh, come on!" he said. "You don't have to pretend that you hate surprises. You're allowed to like them. It's not against the law or anything like that. Jeez."

He sounded exasperated and I had to admit that I couldn't blame him. I probably was being annoying. I tugged on his hand a little. "Are you going to show me my surprise?"

It was his turn to glare. "No."

"Please?" I said, hoping I could get him to say yes. "I really want to see it. Honest."

Sighing begrudgingly, he looked at me for a moment. "Fine," he groaned and began walking again. "You know," he said once we were moving. "One of these days, you'll be the death of me." His tone suggested seriousness but his face showed that he was being playful.

"Are we adding a new thing to your résumé? Edward Cullen, the one who sees the future?"

His good mood still intact, he laughed. "No, I think I'll just stick with my day job."

"All right, now I want to stop talking about jobs because it's reminding me that in two days, I'm going to have to go back to one," I replied. "Not fun at all."

"Oh, come on," Edward said, putting an arm around my shoulder. "It can't be that bad. When I went in to talk to them, they all seemed very friendly."

"Just trust me on this one, Cullen." I leaned into his embrace and continued. "It's awful. My boss—have I ever told you about Mike?" After a shake of the head from Edward, I went on again. "Well, he's not a bad guy. but I'm sure every girl says this about her boss and it's probably always true, but he constantly flirts. And it's not a secret either. But he only does it with me."

"Okay, okay," said Edward. "Maybe work does suck. But here's what you can do. Anytime this Mike is bugging you, all you gotta do is call—"

"You?" I guessed.

"Emmett," he finished his previous sentence. "He's way bigger than me and much better in a fight."

"Right," I said. "'Cause I'm totally going to call Emmett and tell him to beat up my boss."

"If I'm not mistaken, there's some sarcasm in your tone, Ms. Swan, and I personally do not appreciate it."

"Well, too bad," I said with a chuckle.

At first, he laughed with me, but then he got all thoughtful again. "Hey, Bella, you want to do me a favor?" He didn't actually wait for an answer. Instead, he proceeded to speak. "Why don't you close your eyes for me?"

To say the least, I was confused. "Um…why?" I asked. What he was saying didn't make much sense.

"It's your surprise," he responded simply. "You can't see it right now so I need you to be a good girl and close your eyes and keep 'em closed."

"And if I don't want to?" I wondered.

He unlatched himself from me and stood behind me. "Then I'll make sure your eyes are closed." The next thing I knew, Edward's hands were covering my eyes and everything went black.

"Oh, my God," I said in horror. "Edward? I think I'm blind."

"Shut up" was all he said back.

We were silent for a long time and I felt the ground beneath me become a little different. "Is…is that sand?" I asked.

"Mm-hmm."

"Why are we in sand?" was the next thing I asked but Edward said nothing. He did, however, take his hands off of my face, allowing me to take in the view.

In front of me was the beautiful beach of Malibu. But that wasn't even half of it.

Off in the distance, but not too far away, I saw a guitar. I turned around to face Edward. "Is that for me?" I asked

"No, it's for the crazy beach monster," Edward said, using the sarcasm that he chastised earlier. "Of course, it's for you. Who else would I be giving a guitar to?"

"But why?" I felt like I had asked that question a hundred thousand times in the last five minutes but it was because I was clueless. I was becoming more and more baffled by the man who stood by me.

"Well, you were saying that you had to sell your other guitar because…well, you know. So I figured I'd get you one so you could start playing again," he explained. "You want to go see it?"

"Yeah!" This made me even more excited than going to the premiere. This was much more personal. I pretty much ran toward the guitar.

Once I was right in front of it, I could only stare at it. "This is a Jaguar," I stated when Edward walked up beside me.

"1962," he said back to me. "The first year they were made."

I just looked up at him and smiled. Finally, words were beginning to form. "It's…it's beautiful," I told him, bending down to pick it up. It was in my hands and the whole moment was surreal. "Thank you so much." I quietly wrapped my arms around his waist.

He hugged me back, seeming only a little surprised by my reaction. "You're welcome," he said softly. "I'm glad you like it."

I pulled away from him. "It's the best present anyone has ever given me," I told him. "And it's not even Christmas or my birthday."

"No," said Edward slowly. "But it doesn't have to be. I just wanted to see you smile like that." He gazed down at me for a moment. "And it was completely worth it."

The words left his mouth and I could not control myself. I pulled his head down to mine and kissed him, passion flowing more freely than I ever could have imagined. He seemed taken aback by my actions but kissed me back willingly.

When we broke apart, Edward was grinning like a madman. "I didn't know you would receive a gift so well. Maybe I should buy you things more often."

I shook my head. "No, probably not. You might not get away with it so easily. Today, you just caught me off guard. That's not very hard to do."

Edward just continued to smile. "Well, I look forward to it."

**x-X-x**

Back in Forks was hard on all of us. If all of us didn't include Edward, that is. He couldn't be any happier to be back in the dreary place we lived in. Lily, on the other hand, as expected, was not so welcoming of home life.

"I hate it here," she grumbled to me before I went to work a couple days after we got home.

"No, you do not," I said back, a smile tugging at my lips. "Alice is here and Jasper and Edward."

"They could all be in movie land," she continued with a pout.

She was sitting on the couch, her feet dangling. I made my way over to her and took a seat next to her. Putting an arm lightly around her, I sighed as she shied away from me. "Lil, what do you want from me?"

"I wanna go back to movie land."

I suppressed yet another sigh. "Honey, we can't just go back. We have a life here."

Lily simply hopped off of the couch and wandered off into her room.

A few minutes later, and not a moment too soon, Alice was knocking at my door, Jasper in toe. "Hi!" she said, all bubbly when I greeted her at the door.

"Hello, Alice," I replied. "Jasper," I said, nodding at him.

"Bella, pleasure seein' you again."

I opened the door wider, allowing them entry. "Thank you so much again for watching Lily today."

Alice waved her hand. "How many times must I tell you that it is no big deal? I love hanging with her."

"You won't after today," I muttered mostly to myself.

"What was that?" asked Alice.

"It's nothing," I said. "It's just…She never stops talking about L.A. and I can't take it anymore. She's on my last nerve. And I'm sure that that's the worst thing a mother can say…But she's so hard to deal with right now."

Jasper chortled.

"What's so funny?" I wondered.

"It's the terrible twos. Very common."

Alice shook her head. "No, Jazz, you don't understand. Lily's the most perfect kid in the world. She would never let the 'terrible twos' get to her. I don't think that's right."

Jasper just shrugged.

I wasn't so quick to let his thoughts go away. "I think it's a combination off Jasper's idea and the fact that we spent a couple fantastic days in a much nicer city than here. I'm sure it's difficult."

"Don't worry, Bella," Alice said. "You're a good mom. You'll figure out what to do."

"A good mom," Jasper started, "who needs to get to work soon. You can trust me, Bella, to help take good care of your daughter." After he spoke, he jokingly winked at me.

"Well, someone obviously wants me out of my own home," I said, going toward the door again, this time to leave. "I'll see you guys later, okay?"

They both, now heading into the kitchen, waved and shouted a good-bye.

I got into my truck, something that was getting less and less trustworthy as the days went by. Flipping the dial on the radio, I scanned for something remotely decent. "Nothing," I said to myself with a sigh.

A little while later, completely bored, I pulled into my usual parking place at work. It was my first official day back and to say the least, I wasn't looking forward to it.

What made things worse: I almost rammed my door into my boss.

"Oh, my gosh!" I said. "Mike, are you all right? I didn't hit you, did I?" I got over to him. He didn't appear to be hurt or anything—I didn't think I hit him anyway.

"No, no, Bella. I'm fine," he assured me. "Didn't touch me."

I still proceeded to freak out. "Are you sure? I mean, I came pretty close." I didn't give him a chance to respond. "I'm so, so sorry, by the way. I didn't intentionally do that, you know that, right?"

Mike chuckled. "Yes, I'd like to think that you did not mean to hit me with your door. At least, I hope you wouldn't actually do that."

We shared a chuckle. I wasn't sure if this was Mike's new attempt to flirt with me or what was going on. "Yeah," I said, sarcasm sneaking into my tone. "That's the only thought that ever goes through my mind. 'How shall I try to kill Mike today?'"

"I'm watching you, Swan," he replied, shaking his head. Then, he noticed the bag that I was hauling out of my car for work. "Here, I'll take that," he offered.

"No, Mike, it's fine," I told him. "If anything, I should be carrying your stuff."

"That's true," said Mike, "but I'm going to take your bag whether I should or not." With that, he took my bag out of my hand and began walking toward the building.

I followed behind him, pondering over his motives. I decided to just go with the flow for the time being, not wanting to really think about what was going on in Mike's mind. I tried to clear my head.

When we got into our workplace, Mike set my bag down on the floor by my desk. "There you go," he said.

"Thanks" was the only response I could conjure up. "Although I told you already you didn't have to do that…" It seemed like everyone was doing things for me without me telling them to. If only Lily could be like that…

"It was no problem." He shrugged.

I was getting ready to sit down when Mike began to speak again.

"Bella," he said, slow and unsure.

_Oh, no…Here we go_, I thought to myself. But as pleasantly as I could muster, I said, "Yes, Mike?"

He was beginning to shift uncomfortably. "Well, I was just wondering if…if you would, you know, maybe go on a date with me?"

Now, it was my turn to get uncomfortable. "Mike…" I started. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

Mike chuckled but it wasn't a real laugh. It seemed quite forced. "Oh, yeah. I completely get it. I mean, you are with Cullen after all."

"What?" I asked, wanting to make sure I heard correctly.

His voice had a hint of hostility in it when he said, "Well, we all know that you're with him. You're not supposed to date clients, Bella."

"Um…all right, Mike."

"No, Bella, I'm serious." If I was going by his eyes, I wouldn't doubt him. He continued. "You can't do that. That's grounds for getting fired. Or dropping a client."

I stared at him. Gaped was more like that. The only thing that would come out of my mouth was, yet again, "What?"

Mike stared right back. "It would be bad for business, Bella—you dating Edward Cullen. There are, I guess, three options. The first is that you break up with him. You keep your job, we keep our client. The second is that we tell Cullen that we can't be his agents. Then there's the third—and I'm sure you do not want this one—is that you get fired."

I didn't say a word. I just sat down at my desk and attended to my work, like I would do on any other day.

Mike stayed by my desk for a couple more minutes, but then he left, walking into his office.

I was uneasy for the rest of the day, mulling over what had been said. I didn't want to lose my job but I most certainly didn't want to lose Edward either. I couldn't place the emotions going through me. I hadn't been in a real relationship since James, but I knew for a fact that if I had to leave him in order to keep my job, then James wouldn't matter anymore.

So why wasn't it the same for Edward?

I didn't want him out of my life. I could barely remember what it was like without him. Everything was a blur. It was like there was only one stage in my life—the part with Edward—and the time before ceased to exist. Then the fact dawned on me.

I was in love with him…

It was now painfully clear. But I knew I couldn't just come out and say it. I didn't know how he felt—_really_ felt—about me.

The rest of my day at work went slowly. Finally, when I knew it was time to leave, I rushed out of the building, ignoring Victoria, whose glares were like daggers through the back of my head.

I hopped in my truck and went back to my apartment as quickly as I could manage, which was not very fast, all things considered.

When I got home, I rushed into my door and saw Alice sitting on the couch, Lily on her lap and Jasper right beside her.

"Alice," I said and my words started coming out in a hurry. "I need to talk to you alone for a bit."

Noticing the urgency in my tone, Alice lifted Lily up and set her on Jasper. "Watch her for a minute, will you, Jazz?" She didn't let him answer. She just followed me into my bedroom. "So what's going on?" she wondered after a couple minutes.

I let it all spill out. "Mike said I have to break up with Edward."

"What?" she said, unknowingly mimicking my exact words.

"If I don't, I lose my job."

Alice looked at me, a grave expression on her face. "Bella, please, please, please, tell me that you are kidding me right now. Because there is no way that this is right."

"I'm not joking," I told her.

She tapped her foot on the carpet. "Then you must have been misinformed or gotten the info mixed up or something."

"Alice, my hearing is good. I heard Mike perfectly clear." I toppled onto my bed, falling amongst the pillows. "I don't know what to do," I whined. Then I realized that I had to tell her the other thing. "And Ali? I think I love Edward."

Alice lied down next to me and patted my head, like I was a child. "It's going to be all right, Bella. We'll think of something."

We were like that for a while in silence, neither one of us saying a word. Eventually, however, Alice began to speak.

"I got it!" she exclaimed. "I know what you can do."

"Okay," I said, both relieved by and wary of her excitement. It was hard to tell which way Alice could go.

"All right," she said, collecting her thoughts. "Well, first of all, you're going to have to tell Edward about this. He's going to have to know what's going on. About work, I mean."

"Right," I agreed instantly. There was no way I wasn't telling him. About the love situation, on the other hand? That could wait.

"Just making sure we're on the same page here," stated Alice. "Okay, so here's what you should do. Pretend that you did break up but secretly stay together. You get to keep your job and you don't have to dump Edward. Simple."

"But how are we going to make that believable? What if he has to come into the agency?"

"Bella," Alice sighed. "I told you to pretend. Just act like you are completely appalled that Edward is there and make believe that you don't want him anywhere near you."

I exhaled slowly. "All right, Alice. I'll tell Edward about it and we'll see what we can do."

In response, Alice squealed and hugged me. "Oh, Bella, I love it when you take my advice." She hopped up from the bed and went to my door. Just when she was about to make her exit, she stopped. "And one more thing," she said, turning to me.

I waited patiently for her next words.

"You might want to take an acting class," she advised. "You're possibly the worst pretender on the face of this earth."

And with that, she was out of sight, probably back in the living room.

This was going to be hell…

**Once again, I am so, so, so sorry! This should not have taken this long but everything has been kind of weird lately. I'm realizing things that I should have known all along and it's all just been messed up. I would also like to apologize in advance because more likely than not, the next chapter won't be up for a while either but here's why: I am going to get started on numerous future chapters so I can post them more regularly. Hopefully, though, that will happen very quickly. On another note, the link to Edward's gift to Bella will be going up on my profile shortly so be sure to check that out. **

**Until then, why don't you leave me a review to tell me how much you hate me for making you wait forever? :)**


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